A highly flexible double half sheet blanking and patching method

Abstract

The present invention discloses a highly flexible double half-sheet blanking and patching method, which includes: when two vacant positions appear at the same conveying position, judging whether two buffer mechanisms are both equipped with patching conditions, if both are equipped, patching is performed; otherwise, no action is taken; when a vacant position and a single-cell battery half-sheet appear at the same conveying position, judging whether the buffer mechanism corresponding to the vacant position is equipped with patching conditions, if so, patching is performed on the vacant position; otherwise, judging whether the buffer mechanism corresponding to the single-cell battery half-sheet is equipped with caching conditions, if so, temporarily storing the single-cell battery half-sheet, otherwise, swapping the single-cell battery half-sheet with the vacant position, patching the new vacant position; or judging whether the buffer mechanism corresponding to the vacant position is equipped with caching conditions, if so, swapping the single-cell battery half-sheet with the vacant position, and then temporarily storing the single-cell battery half-sheet. The present invention can effectively ensure full-load recycling of battery half-sheets in a half-sheet flower basket.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of battery cell manufacturing, and in particular relates to a double half-cell blanking and patching method with high flexibility. Background Art

[0002] When the battery cells enter the process equipment (such as cleaning, texturing, coating, etc.), they often need to be transported to the inlet and outlet of the process equipment using a basket. After the process operation of the battery cells is completed, they are collected back into the basket and transported to the next process equipment by the basket. Therefore, at the material inlet and outlet of the process equipment, the battery cells will be taken out of the basket and fed to the feed conveyor line, as well as moved from the feed conveyor line to the basket.

[0003] For example, in the prior art, patent CN117116826B discloses an automatic feeding and receiving device and feeding method for silicon wafer coating, and CN117116827B discloses an intermediate section receiving and loading system and method for a double-sided coating process of a battery cell. When used at the feeding end of the coating equipment, a flower basket is used to feed the battery cells, and then the battery cells are taken out from the flower basket one by one to a conveyor line, a visual camera is arranged on the conveyor line to position them, and then a conveying mechanism conveys them to a coating carrier of the coating equipment, thereby realizing the feeding and loading of the battery cell coating; when used at the receiving end of the coating equipment, a conveying mechanism is used to convey the battery cells on the coating carrier to the unloading conveyor line, and after visual inspection and waste discharge, they are recycled and conveyed to the flower basket to realize the receiving.

[0004] However, during the unloading and recovery of battery cells, there may be some hidden cracks, defects, fragmentation or other defective battery cells on the unloading conveyor line. After visual inspection, these battery cells will be discharged and taken away. For half-cell battery cells, a double-row unloading conveyor line is generally used to convey two rows of battery half-cells, and then they are input into the basket at the same time. However, if two of the conveyor lines correspond to two conveying positions, and the battery cells on one of the conveyor lines are removed and excluded because they are defective, if they are directly recycled into the basket in this case, there will be many empty positions in the basket, and the storage rate of the battery cells in the basket may only reach about 80%, or even lower. If they enter the subsequent process equipment, the efficiency of the battery cell process will be reduced.

[0005] Patent CN111604287B in the prior art discloses a solar cell grading system and grading method, in which a conveyor line, a horizontal transport mechanism and a cache mechanism are provided, and the horizontal transport mechanism is used to realize the exchange of over-gear cells between different grading routes, and then the cache mechanism is used to temporarily store these over-gear cells. However, it cannot be directly applied to the above-mentioned cell recycling and unloading system, and cannot solve the problem of low storage rate in the half-cell basket caused by the removal of defective cells in the double-row cells.

[0006] Therefore, it is necessary to provide a new double half-sheet blanking and patching method with high flexibility to solve the above technical problems. Summary of the invention

[0007] The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a double half-cell blanking and patching method with high flexibility, which can effectively ensure the full-load recovery of the battery half cells in the half-cell flower basket.

[0008] The present invention achieves the above-mentioned object through the following technical solutions: a highly flexible double half-sheet blanking patching method, which is implemented based on a double half-sheet blanking patching system, wherein the double half-sheet blanking patching system comprises a first conveyor line and a second conveyor line conveying to the same flower basket end, a battery cell conveying mechanism conveying between the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line, a first buffer mechanism corresponding to the first conveyor line and located downstream of the battery cell conveying mechanism, and a second buffer mechanism corresponding to the second conveyor line and located downstream of the battery cell conveying mechanism;

[0009] The double half sheet blanking and patching method is operated according to the following principles:

[0010] (1) When two vacancies appear at the same conveying position, determine whether the first buffer mechanism and the second buffer mechanism are both capable of filling the gaps. If so, fill the gaps; otherwise, do nothing.

[0011] (2) When a vacant position and a half cell appear at the same conveying position, then:

[0012] S1, determining whether the buffer mechanism corresponding to the vacant position has the patching condition, if so, patching the vacant position with the corresponding buffer mechanism, otherwise executing step S2 or S3;

[0013] S2, judging whether the cache mechanism corresponding to the single-cell battery half-cell has the cache condition, if so, using the corresponding cache mechanism to temporarily store the single-cell battery half-cell, otherwise, exchanging the single-cell battery half-cell with the vacant position, and using the cache mechanism corresponding to the single-cell battery half-cell to fill the new vacant position;

[0014] S3. Determine whether the cache mechanism corresponding to the vacant position meets the cache conditions. If so, swap the single-cell battery half with the vacant position, and use the cache mechanism corresponding to the original vacant position to cache the single-cell battery half.

[0015] Furthermore, when the single-cell battery half-sheet is exchanged with the vacant position, the single-cell battery half-sheet is horizontally rotated 180° and then put down.

[0016] Furthermore, the patch condition is:

[0017] The number of cells cached in the cache mechanism is within a set range; or,

[0018] The number of battery cells cached in the cache mechanism is within a set range, and the difference between the number of battery cells cached in the first cache mechanism and the number of battery cells cached in the second cache mechanism is within a set range.

[0019] Furthermore, the cache condition is:

[0020] The number of cells cached in the cache mechanism is within a set range; or,

[0021] The number of battery cells cached in the cache mechanism is within a set range, and the difference between the number of battery cells cached in the first cache mechanism and the number of battery cells cached in the second cache mechanism is within a set range.

[0022] Furthermore, the material receiving form of the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line is: after receiving a set number of battery half-cell groups in succession, a pair of conveying positions are left vacant, and then the next group of battery half-cells is continuously received to a set number, and then a pair of conveying positions are left vacant, and the material receiving is cyclically carried out in this form.

[0023] Furthermore, the pair of empty conveying positions are recorded as "conveyance vacancies". When the single-cell battery half-cell and the empty position are swapped, the battery cell transport mechanism takes out the single-cell battery half-cell and places it on the next "conveyance vacancies" and is on the same conveyor line as the empty position.

[0024] Furthermore, the battery cell transport mechanism includes a first motor, a support plate driven by the first motor to perform horizontal movement, a second motor fixed on the support plate, and a battery cell adsorption plate driven by the second motor to perform rotational and lifting movement.

[0025] Furthermore, the first cache mechanism and the second cache mechanism both include a third motor and a lifting bracket driven by the third motor to move up and down; the lifting bracket has a storage cavity, the first conveyor line or the second conveyor line passes through the storage cavity, and the storage cavity is provided with several layers of support platforms distributed up and down.

[0026] Furthermore, the storage cavity is formed by a pair of relatively distributed support vertical plates or by four rectangularly distributed support vertical poles. A plurality of support needle bars supporting the battery half-sheets are arranged on the support vertical plates or the support vertical poles. At least four of the support needle bars constitute a layer of the support platform. There is a gap between the left and right relatively opposite pair of support needle bars for the conveyor line to pass through.

[0027] Furthermore, the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line form a receiving conveyor line group, the double half-cell unloading and patching system includes a plurality of the receiving conveyor line groups arranged in parallel, and the transport range of the battery cell transport mechanism covers a plurality of the receiving conveyor line groups.

[0028] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effect of the highly flexible double half-cell blanking and patching method of the present invention is that it is mainly aimed at the double-row battery half-cell collection conveyed to the same flower basket, and a buffer mechanism is arranged on the two material collection conveyor lines, and a battery cell transporting mechanism for realizing the exchange of battery cells between the two material collection conveyor lines is arranged upstream of the buffer mechanism. Corresponding execution actions are configured for various different situations to realize the patching processing of the "double vacancy" and "single vacancy" phenomena at the same conveying position on the material collection conveyor line, to ensure that the battery half-cells that finally enter the flower basket must appear in pairs, thereby ensuring the full load rate of the flower basket collection, and providing a guarantee for the subsequent process of the battery cell to achieve the set production efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of a partial top view of the structure in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 3 A partial structural schematic diagram of a battery cell transport mechanism in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of a cache mechanism in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] The numbers in the figure represent:

[0034] 100-Highly flexible double half sheet unloading and patching system;

[0035] 200-half battery;

[0036] 1- material receiving conveying line group, 11- first conveying line, 12- second conveying line;

[0037] 2-battery cell transport mechanism, 21-first motor, 22-support plate, 23-second motor, 24-battery cell adsorption plate;

[0038] 3-caching mechanism, 31-first cache mechanism, 311-third motor, 312-lifting bracket, 313-storage cavity, 3131-supporting vertical rod, 3132-supporting needle rod, 32-second cache mechanism. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] Embodiment 1:

[0040] Please refer to Figure 1-Figure 4 The present embodiment is a highly flexible double half-sheet blanking and patching system 100, which includes a plurality of parallel material receiving conveyor line groups 1, a cell transport mechanism 2 whose transfer range covers a plurality of material receiving conveyor line groups 1, and a buffer mechanism 3 arranged beside each material receiving conveyor line group 1 and located downstream of the cell transport mechanism 2.

[0041] The receiving conveyor line group 1 is used to collect the processed battery cells to the receiving end, collect the battery cells into a basket at the receiving end, and then transfer them to the next process station through the basket. Each receiving conveyor line group 1 includes two parallel first conveyor lines 11 and second conveyor lines 12, which convey two rows of battery half cells 200.

[0042] The cell transport mechanism 2 includes a first motor 21 , a support plate 22 driven by the first motor 21 to perform horizontal movement, a second motor 23 fixed on the support plate 22 , and a cell adsorption plate 24 driven by the second motor 23 to perform rotational and lifting movement.

[0043] The cache mechanism 3 includes a first cache mechanism 31 disposed beside the first conveyor line 11 and a second cache mechanism 32 disposed beside the second conveyor line 12. Both the first cache mechanism 31 and the second cache mechanism 32 include a third motor 311 and a lifting bracket 312 driven by the third motor 311 to move up and down. The lifting bracket 312 has a storage cavity 313, through which the first conveyor line 11 or the second conveyor line 12 passes. The storage cavity 313 is provided with a plurality of layers of support platforms (not shown in the figure) distributed up and down for caching the battery half-sheets 200.

[0044] The storage cavity 313 is formed by a pair of relatively distributed support vertical plates or by four rectangularly distributed support vertical rods 3131. A plurality of support needle rods 3132 for supporting the battery half-cell 200 are arranged on the support vertical plates or the support vertical rods 3131. At least four support needle rods 3132 constitute a layer of the support platform. There is a gap (not shown in the figure) between the pair of relatively left and right support needle rods 3132 for the conveyor line to pass through.

[0045] The following “same conveying position” is explained as follows: if the conveying positions of the first conveying line 11 along its conveying direction are A1~An in sequence, and the conveying positions of the second conveying line 12 along its conveying direction are B1~Bn in sequence, then Ai and Bi (i=1,2,……,n) are the “same conveying position”.

[0046] This embodiment provides a patching method of a double half-sheet blanking patching system 100 with high flexibility, including:

[0047] (1) When two vacancies appear at the same conveying position in the same receiving conveyor line group 1, it is determined whether the first buffer mechanism 31 and the second buffer mechanism 32 are both capable of patching. If so, patching is performed; otherwise, neither the buffer mechanism 3 nor the battery cell transport mechanism 2 needs to be operated;

[0048] By using the first buffer mechanism 31 and the second buffer mechanism 32 to fill the cells, on the one hand, the cells inside the buffer mechanism can be released to relieve storage pressure; on the other hand, the half cells are guaranteed to appear in pairs at the same conveying position and enter the basket at the same time. If one or both of the first buffer mechanism 31 and the second buffer mechanism 32 do not meet the filling conditions, no processing is done directly, and two vacant positions are maintained. When the basket is receiving materials, the basket does not need to be raised or lowered, so that there will be no vacant cells in the basket.

[0049] (2) When a vacant position and a half-cell battery appear at the same conveying position in the same receiving conveyor line group 1, then:

[0050] S1, determining whether the buffer mechanism corresponding to the vacant position has the patching condition, if so, patching the vacant position with the corresponding buffer mechanism, otherwise executing step S2 or S3;

[0051] S2, judging whether the cache mechanism corresponding to the single-cell battery half-cell has the cache condition, if so, using the corresponding cache mechanism to temporarily store the single-cell battery half-cell, otherwise, the cache mechanism corresponding to the single-cell battery half-cell must have the patching condition, therefore, the single-cell battery half-cell is swapped with the vacant position, and the cache mechanism corresponding to the single-cell battery half-cell is used to patch the new vacant position;

[0052] S3. Determine whether the cache mechanism corresponding to the vacant position meets the cache conditions. If so, swap the single-cell battery half with the vacant position, and use the cache mechanism corresponding to the original vacant position to cache the single-cell battery half.

[0053] Specifically,

[0054] When a vacant position appears on the first conveyor line 11 and a half-cell battery appears on the second conveyor line 12 at the same conveying position in the same receiving conveyor line group 1, then:

[0055] S1, determining whether the first buffer mechanism 31 has the patching condition, if so, using the first buffer mechanism 31 to patch the vacant position, otherwise executing step S2 or S3;

[0056] S2, judging whether the second buffer mechanism 32 has the buffering condition, if so, using the second buffer mechanism 32 to temporarily store the single battery half-cell, otherwise, the second buffer mechanism 32 must have the patching condition, therefore, using the battery cell transporting mechanism 2 to swap the single battery half-cell with the vacant position, and using the second buffer mechanism 32 to patch the new vacant position;

[0057] S3, judging whether the first buffer mechanism 31 has the buffering condition, if so, using the battery cell transport mechanism 2 to swap the single battery half cell with the vacant position, and using the first buffer mechanism 31 to buffer the single battery half cell.

[0058] When a vacant position appears on the second conveyor line 12 and a half-cell battery appears on the first conveyor line 11 at the same conveying position in the same receiving conveyor line group 1, then:

[0059] S1, determining whether the second buffer mechanism 32 has the patching condition, if so, using the second buffer mechanism 32 to patch the vacant position, otherwise executing step S2 or S3;

[0060] S2, judging whether the first buffer mechanism 31 has the buffering condition, if so, using the first buffer mechanism 31 to temporarily store the single battery half-cell, otherwise, the first buffer mechanism 31 must have the patching condition, therefore, using the battery cell transporting mechanism 2 to swap the single battery half-cell with the vacant position, and using the first buffer mechanism 31 to patch the new vacant position;

[0061] S3, judging whether the second buffer mechanism 32 has the buffering condition, if so, using the battery cell transport mechanism 2 to swap the single battery half cell with the vacant position, and using the second buffer mechanism 32 to buffer the single battery half cell.

[0062] Since the present embodiment is aimed at the patching operation in the double-row battery half-cell collection, the patching action will involve the position change of the battery half-cell 200 between the first conveyor line 11 and the second conveyor line 12. Since a chamfer is provided at the corner of one side edge of the battery half-cell 200, while there is no chamfer at the other opposite side corner, it is necessary to ensure that the side edge with the chamfer is located on the outside after the position change. The present embodiment can adjust the direction of the battery half-cell 200 through the second motor 23 in the battery cell transport mechanism 2. The battery half-cell is rotated 180° and then placed on another conveyor line to ensure that the side edge with the chamfer can still be located on the outside after the battery half-cell 200 changes position, thereby ensuring that the direction of the battery half-cell 200 after entering the flower basket is correct.

[0063] The patch conditions are:

[0064] The number of battery cells cached in the first cache mechanism 31 and the second cache mechanism 32 is within a set range; or,

[0065] The number of battery cells cached in the first cache mechanism 31 and the second cache mechanism 32 is within a set range, and the difference between the number of battery cells cached in the first cache mechanism 31 and the second cache mechanism 32 is within a set range.

[0066] The cache conditions are:

[0067] The number of battery cells cached in the first cache mechanism 31 and the second cache mechanism 32 is within a set range; or,

[0068] The number of battery cells cached in the first cache mechanism 31 and the second cache mechanism 32 is within a set range, and the difference between the number of battery cells cached in the first cache mechanism 31 and the second cache mechanism 32 is within a set range.

[0069] When the position of the single battery half-cell and the empty position needs to be exchanged, the receiving conveyor line group 1 needs to stay for a certain period of time so that the battery cell handling mechanism 2 can complete the set of actions of "moving the single battery half-cell from one conveyor line to the top of another conveyor line - putting down the single battery half-cell". As the production cycle is gradually compressed, in order to adapt to a faster production cycle, this embodiment optimizes the material receiving form of the receiving conveyor line group 1. Specifically, after the receiving conveyor line group 1 continuously receives a set number of battery half-cell groups, it leaves a pair of conveying positions vacant, and then continuously receives the next group of battery half-cells to the set number, and then leaves a pair of conveying positions vacant (recorded as "conveyance vacant positions"), and circulates the material receiving in this form. Under this material receiving form, when the battery cell handling mechanism 2 exchanges the position of the single battery half-cell with the empty position, it takes out the single battery half-cell and places it on the next vacant conveying position (i.e., the next conveying vacant position), and it is on the same conveyor line as the empty position.

[0070] For example, in this embodiment, the material receiving form of the receiving conveyor line group 1 is "one conveying vacant position for every two groups of battery half-cells". When a vacant position and a single battery half-cell appear at the same conveying position in the same receiving conveyor line group 1, and according to the patching principle, it is necessary to exchange the position of the single battery half-cell and the vacant position, the battery cell transporting mechanism 2 absorbs the single battery half-cell from a conveyor line, and the receiving conveyor line group 1 continues to run. Before the next conveying vacant position reaches under the battery cell transporting mechanism 2, the battery cell transporting mechanism 2 completes the translation movement; when the next conveying vacant position is reached, the single battery half-cell is placed on another conveyor line.

[0071] Through the design of the conveying space, the receiving conveyor line group 1 can stay for a shorter time without waiting for the battery cell handling mechanism 2 to complete the whole set of actions of "moving the single battery half-cell from one conveyor line - moving horizontally to the top of another conveyor line - putting down the single battery half-cell". With the design of the conveying space, the time for the receiving conveyor line group 1 to stay for a single time only needs to meet the battery cell handling mechanism 2 to complete the set of actions of "moving the single battery half-cell from one conveyor line", and then when the receiving conveyor line group 1 is conveyed and moved to a conveying position, the battery cell handling mechanism 2 completes the action of "moving horizontally to the top of another conveyor line", and then when the receiving conveyor line group 1 makes the next stop, the battery cell handling mechanism 2 completes the set of actions of "putting down the single battery half-cell on another conveyor line", thereby shortening the waiting time of the receiving conveyor line group 1 and improving the production rhythm.

[0072] The above are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, several modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the creative concept of the present invention, which all belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A double half sheet blanking and patching method with high flexibility, characterized in that: It is realized based on a double half-sheet unloading patch system, which includes a first conveyor line and a second conveyor line conveying to the same flower basket end, a battery cell conveying mechanism conveying between the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line, a first buffer mechanism corresponding to the first conveyor line and located downstream of the battery cell conveying mechanism, and a second buffer mechanism corresponding to the second conveyor line and located downstream of the battery cell conveying mechanism; The double half sheet blanking and patching method is operated according to the following principles: (1) When two vacancies appear at the same conveying position, determine whether the first buffer mechanism and the second buffer mechanism are both capable of filling the gaps. If so, fill the gaps; otherwise, do nothing. (2) When a vacant position and a half cell appear at the same conveying position, then: S1, determining whether the buffer mechanism corresponding to the vacant position has the patching condition, if so, patching the vacant position with the corresponding buffer mechanism, otherwise executing step S2 or S3; S2, judging whether the cache mechanism corresponding to the single-cell battery half-cell has the cache condition, if so, using the corresponding cache mechanism to temporarily store the single-cell battery half-cell, otherwise, exchanging the single-cell battery half-cell with the vacant position, and using the cache mechanism corresponding to the single-cell battery half-cell to fill the new vacant position; S3. Determine whether the cache mechanism corresponding to the vacant position meets the cache conditions. If so, swap the single-cell battery half with the vacant position, and use the cache mechanism corresponding to the original vacant position to cache the single-cell battery half.

2. The method for cutting and patching double half sheets with high flexibility as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: When the single-cell battery half-sheet is exchanged with the vacant position, the single-cell battery half-sheet is horizontally rotated 180° and then put down.

3. The method for cutting and patching double half sheets with high flexibility as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The patch conditions are: The number of cells cached in the cache mechanism is within a set range; or, The number of battery cells cached in the cache mechanism is within a set range, and the difference between the number of battery cells cached in the first cache mechanism and the number of battery cells cached in the second cache mechanism is within a set range.

4. The method for cutting and patching double half sheets with high flexibility as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The cache conditions are: The number of cells cached in the cache mechanism is within a set range; or, The number of battery cells cached in the cache mechanism is within a set range, and the difference between the number of battery cells cached in the first cache mechanism and the number of battery cells cached in the second cache mechanism is within a set range.

5. The method for double half sheet blanking and patching with high flexibility according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The material receiving form of the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line is: after receiving a set number of battery half-cell groups in succession, a pair of conveying positions are left vacant, and then the next group of battery half-cells is continuously received to a set number, and then a pair of conveying positions are left vacant, and the material receiving is cyclically carried out in this form.

6. The method for cutting and patching double half sheets with high flexibility as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that: The pair of empty conveying positions is recorded as "conveyance vacant positions". When the single-cell battery half-cell and the empty position are swapped, the battery cell transport mechanism takes out the single-cell battery half-cell and places it on the next "conveyance vacant position" and is on the same conveyor line as the empty position.

7. The method for cutting and patching double half sheets with high flexibility as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The battery cell transport mechanism includes a first motor, a support plate driven by the first motor to perform horizontal movement, a second motor fixed on the support plate, and a battery cell adsorption plate driven by the second motor to perform rotational and lifting movement.

8. The method for cutting and patching double half sheets with high flexibility as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The first cache mechanism and the second cache mechanism both include a third motor and a lifting bracket driven by the third motor to move up and down; the lifting bracket has a storage cavity, the first conveyor line or the second conveyor line passes through the storage cavity, and the storage cavity is provided with several layers of support platforms distributed up and down.

9. The method for cutting and patching double half sheets with high flexibility as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that: The storage cavity is formed by a pair of relatively distributed support vertical plates or by four rectangularly distributed support vertical poles. A plurality of support needle bars for supporting the battery half-sheets are arranged on the support vertical plates or the support vertical poles. At least four of the support needle bars constitute a layer of the support platform. There is a gap between the pair of relatively left and right support needle bars for the conveyor line to pass through.

10. The method for cutting and patching double half sheets with high flexibility as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The first conveyor line and the second conveyor line form a receiving conveyor line group, the double half-sheet unloading and patching system includes a plurality of the receiving conveyor line groups arranged in parallel, and the transport range of the battery cell transport mechanism covers a plurality of the receiving conveyor line groups.

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