Lithium battery pole piece processing method and device

Abstract

The invention discloses a lithium battery pole piece processing method and device, and belongs to the technical field of lithium batteries. The method comprises the following steps: determining the position of a lithium layer to be removed, and heating the lithium layer to be removed through a laser so as to vaporize the lithium layer. The lithium layer is treated in a high-temperature heating manner, so that the lithium layer is vaporized, lithium in the lithium battery pole piece is safely removed, an internal copper layer is exposed, and the lithium battery pole piece meets the use requirements.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of lithium batteries, and in particular to a method for processing a lithium battery pole piece and a device for implementing the method. Background Art

[0002] Lithium-ion battery is a high-capacity, long-life, environmentally friendly battery with many advantages. It is widely used in energy storage, electric vehicles, portable electronic products and other fields. The electrode plate is the basis of lithium-ion power battery and directly determines the electrochemical performance and safety of the battery. Figure 1 As shown in FIG. 1 , a lithium battery electrode includes a copper layer and a lithium layer on both sides of the copper layer. In a specific application, the copper layer needs to be electrically connected to the conductor, so a portion of the lithium layer on both sides of the copper layer needs to be removed to expose the internal copper layer, such as Figure 2 However, lithium is easily oxidized and flammable, and conventional cutting, etching and other methods pose safety risks when removing lithium.

[0003] The information disclosed in this background technology section is only intended to enhance the understanding of the overall background of the invention and should not be regarded as an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that the information constitutes the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art. Summary of the invention

[0004] The object of the present invention is to provide a lithium battery pole piece processing method, which can safely remove lithium from the lithium battery pole piece to expose the internal copper layer so that it meets the use requirements.

[0005] The present invention also aims to provide a lithium battery pole piece processing device, which can safely remove lithium from the lithium battery pole piece to expose the internal copper layer so that it meets the use requirements.

[0006] To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for processing a lithium battery pole piece, wherein the lithium battery pole piece includes a copper layer and a lithium layer located on both sides of the copper layer, and the method includes:

[0007] Determining the location of the lithium layer to be removed;

[0008] The lithium layer to be removed is heated by a laser to vaporize the lithium layer.

[0009] In one or more embodiments of the present invention, heating the lithium layer to be removed by a laser comprises:

[0010] The lithium layers to be removed on both sides of the copper layer are heated simultaneously by lasers located at the same position and on both sides of the lithium battery pole piece.

[0011] In one or more embodiments of the present invention, heating the lithium layer to be removed by a laser comprises:

[0012] The lithium layer to be removed on one side of the copper layer is heated by a laser located upstream;

[0013] The lithium layer to be removed on the other side of the copper layer is heated by a laser located downstream.

[0014] In one or more embodiments of the present invention, it is characterized in that the laser heating the lithium layer to be removed comprises:

[0015] The laser first removes part of the lithium layer to be removed along a preset direction, and then removes the remaining lithium layer to be removed along a direction opposite to the preset direction.

[0016] In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the lithium battery pole piece processing method further includes:

[0017] Before determining the location of the lithium layer to be removed, the lithium battery pole piece is moved to the processing area where the laser is located by a coiling mechanism;

[0018] After the lithium layer to be removed is heated, the processed lithium battery pole piece is collected by a coiling mechanism.

[0019] In one or more embodiments of the present invention, determining the location of the lithium layer to be removed includes:

[0020] Before the upstream laser heats the lithium layer, the lithium layer to be removed on one side of the upstream lithium battery pole piece is positioned;

[0021] Before the downstream laser heats the lithium layer, the lithium layer to be removed on the other side of the downstream lithium battery pole piece is positioned.

[0022] In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the processing method further comprises:

[0023] The lithium battery pole piece of preset length is moved to the upstream processing area where the upstream laser is located by the winding mechanism, and after being processed by the upstream laser, the lithium battery pole piece is moved to the downstream processing area where the downstream laser is located by the winding mechanism. After the downstream laser processes the lithium battery pole piece, the processed lithium battery pole piece is collected by the winding mechanism.

[0024] In one or more embodiments of the present invention, in the upstream processing area, the initially acquired position data is used to locate the lithium layer to be removed in the subsequent lithium battery pole piece.

[0025] In one or more embodiments of the present invention, in the downstream processing region, the position of the lithium layer to be removed on one side of the copper layer determined in the upstream processing region is used to determine the position of the lithium layer to be removed on the other side of the copper layer.

[0026] In one or more embodiments of the present invention, determining the location of the lithium layer to be removed includes:

[0027] The position of the lithium layer to be removed is determined by a CCD camera.

[0028] An embodiment of the present invention provides a lithium battery pole piece processing device, the processing device comprising:

[0029] A positioning mechanism for determining the position of the lithium layer to be removed;

[0030] The heating mechanism is used to heat the lithium layer to be removed by a laser so as to vaporize the lithium layer.

[0031] Compared with the prior art, the present invention processes the lithium layer by high-temperature heating to vaporize the lithium layer, thereby safely removing the lithium in the lithium battery pole piece to expose the internal copper layer to meet the use requirements. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a lithium battery electrode;

[0033] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a lithium battery pole piece with part of the lithium layer removed;

[0034] Figure 3 is a flow chart of a lithium battery pole piece processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the laser setting position according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of laser position setting according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the moving direction of a laser according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 7 It is a structural diagram of a lithium battery pole piece processing device according to one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] The specific implementation modes of the present invention are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but it should be understood that the protection scope of the present invention is not limited by the specific implementation modes.

[0040] Unless explicitly stated otherwise, throughout the specification and claims, the term “comprise” or variations such as “include” or “comprising”, etc., will be understood to include the stated elements or components but not to exclude other elements or components.

[0041] like Figure 3 As shown, a lithium battery pole piece processing method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention can safely remove lithium from the lithium battery pole piece to expose the internal copper layer so that it meets the use requirements.

[0042] Specifically, the processing method of lithium battery pole piece includes the following steps:

[0043] First, determine the location of the lithium layer to be removed;

[0044] Specifically, Figure 1 As shown in FIG. 1 , a lithium battery pole piece includes a copper layer and a lithium layer located on both sides of the copper layer, that is, a copper layer is between the two lithium layers. When a lithium battery pole piece is actually used, a portion of the lithium layer needs to be removed. Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, part A is the lithium layer that needs to be removed. By removing a part of the lithium layer, the copper layer inside the lithium battery pole piece can be exposed, so that it can be electrically connected to the corresponding wire.

[0045] Furthermore, when processing the lithium battery pole piece, it is necessary to determine the position of the lithium layer to be removed so as to remove the lithium layer at the corresponding position. In specific implementation, the lithium battery pole piece can be photographed by a CCD camera to determine the position information of the lithium layer to be removed in the lithium battery pole piece through corresponding image processing software or image processing algorithm.

[0046] Finally, the lithium layer to be removed is heated to vaporize the lithium layer.

[0047] Specifically, after determining the position where the lithium layer needs to be removed in the lithium battery pole piece, the lithium layer at the position is further subjected to high temperature heating treatment to vaporize the lithium at the position, thereby achieving lithium removal. The present invention uses high temperature heating to vaporize the lithium to remove the lithium at the desired position, thereby avoiding the problems caused by cutting, etching and other processing methods, and combining Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, part B is the lithium battery electrode after the lithium layer is removed.

[0048] Furthermore, the vaporized lithium needs to be recovered to avoid danger.

[0049] In this embodiment, it is best to use a laser to heat the lithium layer. Of course, in other embodiments, other heating mechanisms can also be used as long as the lithium at the corresponding position can be heated at high temperature to cause it to vaporize.

[0050] Furthermore, combined with Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, the arrangement position of the laser can be configured according to actual needs to heat the lithium in the lithium battery pole piece. For example, when there is enough space, taking the moving direction of the lithium battery pole piece as a reference, lasers located on both sides of the lithium battery pole piece can be arranged at a certain position where the lithium battery pole piece passes, so as to simultaneously perform high-temperature heating treatment on the lithium layers on both sides of the lithium battery pole piece, so that the lithium layers on both sides are vaporized at the same time, such as Figure 4 As shown, L is a laser; of course, when space is insufficient, taking the moving direction of the lithium battery pole piece as a reference, a laser can be set upstream to perform high-temperature heating treatment on the lithium layer on one side of the lithium battery pole piece, so that the lithium layer on one side of the lithium battery pole piece is vaporized first, and at the same time, a laser is set downstream to perform high-temperature vaporization treatment on the lithium battery on the other side of the lithium battery pole piece, so that the lithium layer on the other side of the lithium battery pole piece is vaporized later, such as Figure 5 As shown, where L is the laser.

[0051] Furthermore, in order to avoid the warping problem caused by uneven heating of the lithium layer area, the above problem can be avoided by changing the heating treatment method of the laser. Specifically, during implementation, the laser can first perform high-temperature heating treatment on part of the lithium layer to be removed along a preset direction, and then remove the remaining lithium layer to be removed in a direction opposite to the preset direction. For example, when the laser is single, the laser can first perform high-temperature heating treatment on part of the lithium layer to be removed along a preset direction, and then remove the remaining lithium layer to be removed in a direction opposite to the preset direction; Figure 6 As shown, when the laser includes two sub-lasers (referred to as sub-laser 1 and sub-laser 2), sub-laser 1 can first perform high-temperature heating treatment on a portion of the lithium layer to be removed along a preset direction, and then sub-laser 2 can remove the remaining lithium layer to be removed in a direction opposite to the preset direction. In specific implementation, it is best to remove half of the lithium layer first and then remove the other half of the lithium layer.

[0052] Furthermore, combined with Figure 4 and Figure 5As shown, in order to facilitate the processing of lithium battery pole pieces and improve the processing efficiency, the present invention also performs material discharging and material collection processing on the lithium battery pole pieces through a winding mechanism. Specifically, before determining the position of the lithium layer to be removed, the lithium battery pole piece to be processed is also moved to the processing area where the laser is located by the winding mechanism; after the lithium layer to be removed is heated to vaporize the lithium layer, the processed lithium battery pole piece is also collected by the winding mechanism. The winding mechanism here includes but is not limited to a discharging roll M and a collecting roll N, wherein the discharging roll M is used to store unprocessed lithium battery pole pieces; and the collecting roll N is used to store processed lithium battery pole pieces. The discharging roll M and the collecting roll N have the same rotation direction, such as clockwise rotation, to ensure stable movement of the lithium battery pole pieces.

[0053] As shown in the figure, according to the different arrangement positions of the laser, the processing method of the lithium battery pole piece of the present invention is described in detail below by taking two embodiments as examples.

[0054] Embodiment 1

[0055] like Figure 4 As shown, taking the moving direction of the lithium battery pole piece as a reference, lasers are arranged on both sides of the lithium battery pole piece at a certain position passed by the lithium battery pole piece. When processing the lithium battery pole piece, the winding mechanism moves the lithium battery pole piece to be processed to the processing area, in which at least a CCD camera and a laser are arranged. After the lithium battery pole piece is moved to the processing area, the lithium battery pole piece is scanned and processed by the CCD camera to determine the position of the lithium layer to be removed. After the position is determined, the laser can be further moved to the corresponding position to perform high-temperature heating treatment on the lithium layers on both sides of the lithium battery pole piece to vaporize the lithium layer. After the lithium battery pole piece is heated and vaporized, the processed lithium battery pole piece is collected by the winding mechanism. When all the processing of the lithium battery pole piece is completed, the lithium battery pole piece can be cut and separated to be divided into multiple lithium battery pole pieces for subsequent use, such as Figure 4 As shown, C is the dividing line.

[0056] Embodiment 2

[0057] like Figure 5 As shown, taking the moving direction of the lithium battery pole piece as a reference, a laser is set upstream to perform high-temperature vaporization treatment on the lithium layer on one side of the lithium battery pole piece (recorded as surface a), and a laser is set downstream to perform high-temperature vaporization treatment on the lithium layer on the other side of the lithium battery pole piece (recorded as surface b). When processing the lithium battery pole piece, the coiling mechanism moves the lithium battery pole piece to be processed of a preset length to the upstream processing area. For example, if the length requirement of each lithium battery pole piece is 1m, the coiling mechanism moves the lithium battery pole piece of 1m in length to the upstream processing area each time. The upstream processing area includes but is not limited to the upstream CCD camera and the upstream laser.

[0058] When the lithium battery pole piece moves to the upstream processing area, the upstream CCD camera scans the lithium battery pole piece to determine the position of the lithium layer to be removed. After the position is determined, the upstream laser can be moved to the corresponding position to perform high-temperature heating on the lithium layer on the a-side of the lithium battery pole piece to vaporize the lithium layer. During implementation, after the CCD camera in the upstream processing area obtains position information once, the position information can be directly used to process the lithium battery pole piece to improve processing efficiency.

[0059] After the upstream laser performs high-temperature heating treatment on the lithium layer on one side of the lithium battery pole piece, the winding mechanism further moves the processed lithium battery pole piece to the downstream processing area, which includes but is not limited to the downstream CCD camera and the downstream laser.

[0060] When the lithium battery pole piece moves to the downstream processing area, the lithium battery pole piece is scanned by the downstream CCD camera to determine the position of the lithium layer to be removed. After the position is determined, the downstream laser can be moved to the corresponding position to perform high-temperature heating treatment on the lithium layer on the b side of the lithium battery pole piece to vaporize the lithium.

[0061] In the specific implementation, when the downstream CCD camera locates the position of the lithium layer to be processed on the b-side, it is necessary to first determine the position of the area where the lithium layer is removed on the a-side, and further determine the lithium layer to be removed relative to the b-side, that is, to locate the b-side. In addition, after removing the lithium layer on the b-side, the positioning data of the a-side obtained by the upstream CCD camera can be used for cutting so that the processed copper layer is completely exposed. This is because the cutting position is at the edge of the area where the lithium layer is removed, and thus the cutting process can be performed through the positioning data of the a-side.

[0062] like Figure 7 As shown, a preferred embodiment of the present invention also discloses a lithium battery pole piece processing device, which can implement the above-mentioned lithium battery pole piece processing method, and can safely remove lithium from the lithium battery pole piece to expose the internal copper layer so that it meets the use requirements.

[0063] Specifically, the processing device for the lithium battery pole piece includes a positioning mechanism and a heating mechanism, wherein the positioning mechanism is used to determine the position of the lithium layer to be removed; and the heating mechanism is used to heat the lithium layer to be removed to vaporize the lithium layer.

[0064] Furthermore, the positioning mechanism includes but is not limited to a CCD camera, which can take pictures of the lithium battery pole piece to determine the position information of the lithium layer in the lithium battery pole piece where the lithium layer needs to be removed through corresponding image processing software or image processing algorithm.

[0065] The heating mechanism includes but is not limited to a laser, wherein, taking the moving direction of the lithium battery pole piece as a reference, lasers located on both sides of the lithium battery pole piece can be set at a certain position where the lithium battery pole piece passes, so as to simultaneously perform high-temperature heating treatment on the lithium layers on both sides of the lithium battery pole piece, so that the lithium layers on both sides are vaporized at the same time. The specific method of heating the lithium layer is described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0066] Of course, with the moving direction of the lithium battery pole piece as a reference, a laser can also be set upstream to perform high-temperature heating treatment on the lithium layer on one side of the lithium battery pole piece, so that the lithium layer on one side of the lithium battery pole piece is vaporized first, and at the same time, a laser is set downstream to perform high-temperature vaporization treatment on the lithium battery on the other side of the lithium battery pole piece, so that the lithium layer on the other side of the lithium battery pole piece is vaporized later. The specific method of heating the lithium layer is described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0067] Furthermore, the processing device also includes a coiling mechanism for supplying and allowing unprocessed lithium battery pole pieces to enter the processing area, and also collecting processed lithium battery pole pieces. The specific ways of supplying and collecting lithium battery pole pieces by the coiling mechanism are described above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0068] The foregoing description of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention is for the purpose of illustration and demonstration. These descriptions are not intended to limit the present invention to the precise form disclosed, and it is clear that many changes and variations can be made based on the above teachings. The purpose of selecting and describing the exemplary embodiments is to explain the specific principles of the present invention and its practical application, so that those skilled in the art can realize and utilize various different exemplary embodiments of the present invention and various different selections and changes. The scope of the present invention is intended to be limited by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method for processing a lithium battery pole piece, wherein the lithium battery pole piece comprises a copper layer and a lithium layer located on both sides of the copper layer, characterized in that: The method comprises: Determining the location of the lithium layer to be removed; The lithium layer to be removed is heated by a laser to vaporize the lithium layer.

2. The lithium battery pole piece processing method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of heating the lithium layer to be removed by a laser comprises: The lithium layers to be removed on both sides of the copper layer are heated simultaneously by lasers located at the same position and on both sides of the lithium battery pole piece.

3. The lithium battery pole piece processing method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of heating the lithium layer to be removed by a laser comprises: The lithium layer to be removed on one side of the copper layer is heated by a laser located upstream; The lithium layer to be removed on the other side of the copper layer is heated by a laser located downstream.

4. The lithium battery pole piece processing method according to any one of claims 2 to 3, characterized in that: The laser heating the lithium layer to be removed comprises: The laser first removes part of the lithium layer to be removed along a preset direction, and then removes the remaining lithium layer to be removed along a direction opposite to the preset direction.

5. The lithium battery pole piece processing method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The lithium battery pole piece processing method also includes: Before determining the location of the lithium layer to be removed, the lithium battery pole piece is moved to the processing area where the laser is located by a coiling mechanism; After the lithium layer to be removed is heated, the processed lithium battery pole piece is collected by a coiling mechanism.

6. The lithium battery pole piece processing method according to claim 3, characterized in that: Determining the position of the lithium layer to be removed comprises: Before the upstream laser heats the lithium layer, the lithium layer to be removed on one side of the upstream lithium battery pole piece is positioned; Before the downstream laser heats the lithium layer, the lithium layer to be removed on the other side of the downstream lithium battery pole piece is positioned.

7. The lithium battery pole piece processing method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The processing method also includes: The lithium battery pole piece of preset length is moved to the upstream processing area where the upstream laser is located by the winding mechanism, and after being processed by the upstream laser, the lithium battery pole piece is moved to the downstream processing area where the downstream laser is located by the winding mechanism. After the downstream laser processes the lithium battery pole piece, the processed lithium battery pole piece is collected by the winding mechanism.

8. The lithium battery pole piece processing method according to claim 6, characterized in that: In the upstream processing area, the initially acquired position data is used to locate the lithium layer to be removed in the subsequent lithium battery pole piece.

9. The lithium battery pole piece processing method according to claim 6, characterized in that: In the downstream processing area, the position of the lithium layer to be removed on one side of the copper layer determined in the upstream processing area is used to determine the position of the lithium layer to be removed on the other side of the copper layer.

10. The lithium battery pole piece processing method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Determining the position of the lithium layer to be removed comprises: The position of the lithium layer to be removed is determined by a CCD camera.

11. A device for implementing the lithium battery pole piece processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that: The processing device comprises: A positioning mechanism for determining the position of the lithium layer to be removed; The heating mechanism is used to heat the lithium layer to be removed by a laser so as to vaporize the lithium layer.

Images