Robot laser welding integrated device for battery module

Abstract

The invention relates to a robot laser welding integrated device for a battery module. The robot laser welding integrated device comprises a six-axis robot installed on a base and a welding assembly installed on the six-axis robot. The welding assembly comprises a first fixing plate installed on the six-axis robot, a vibration lens is installed on the top of the first fixing plate, an air knife support is installed on the front side of the vibration lens, and at least one air knife is installed on the air knife support. A pressing nozzle assembly is installed on the right side of the bottom of the first fixing plate. A visual assembly is installed on the left side of the bottom of the first fixing plate. The multi-face flexible welding device is integrally installed on a flange at the tail end of a six-axis robot, multi-face flexible welding of the battery module can be achieved through single-time clamping, the size of welding equipment is reduced, and the application flexibility of laser welding equipment for welding machining of different welding faces in different scenes is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field related to the processing of battery modules, and in particular to a robot laser welding integration device for battery modules. Background Art

[0002] In the field of laser welding processing, the welding tooling for large parts has complex processes, takes a long time, and requires multiple clamps to complete the processing of different end faces. By integrating robot technology and laser welding technology, the flexibility and adaptability of welding processing for different shapes, materials, and parts can be improved, and practical problems such as limited working space for laser welding operations and insufficient welding flexibility can be solved. Therefore, the application of robot laser welding technology in the field of large battery module welding has broad application prospects.

[0003] After retrieval, it is found that the existing Chinese patent publication number is CN210281084U, which discloses a gantry robot laser welding mechanism. This type of equipment requires a large self-size to expand the working space for welding processing, and the equipment volume and cost are relatively high. From the publicly available welding equipment patents, it can be found that gantry welding robots need to increase the equipment volume to increase the welding working space, and cannot meet the requirements of equipment miniaturization and flexible welding; while articulated robots are generally equipped with dedicated welding mechanisms and cannot meet the multi-functional integration requirements such as precise positioning, pressing, dust removal, and inert gas protection of battery modules.

[0004] In view of the above-mentioned defects, the inventor actively conducts research and innovation in order to create a robot laser welding integration device for battery modules, making it more valuable in the industry. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To solve any of the above technical problems, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a robot laser welding integration device for battery modules, aiming to achieve multi-end face flexible welding of battery modules with a single clamping.

[0006] To achieve the above purpose, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0007] The robot laser welding integration device for battery modules includes a six-axis robot installed on a base and a welding assembly installed on the six-axis robot;

[0008] The welding assembly includes a first fixing plate installed on the six-axis robot. A galvanometer scanner is installed on the top of the first fixing plate, a light outlet is installed at the bottom of the galvanometer scanner, a wind knife bracket is installed on the front side of the galvanometer scanner, and at least one wind knife is installed on the wind knife bracket;

[0009] A nozzle assembly is installed on the right side of the bottom of the first fixing plate. The nozzle assembly includes a second fixing plate installed on the first fixing plate. A slide table cylinder is installed on the second fixing plate. The slide table cylinder drives the copper nozzle bracket below to move in the vertical direction. A copper nozzle assembly is installed on the copper nozzle bracket. A pressing block is installed at the bottom of the copper nozzle assembly. A dust suction hood is installed on one side of the copper nozzle assembly.

[0010] A vision assembly is installed on the left side of the bottom of the first fixing plate. The vision assembly includes a third fixing plate installed on the first fixing plate. A camera and a light source are installed on the third fixing plate from top to bottom in sequence.

[0011] As a further improvement of the present invention, the air knife bracket covers the light-emitting range of the light outlet in the left-right direction. Vertical connecting rods are installed on both the left and right sides of the bottom of the air knife bracket. Both the left and right sides of the air knife are installed between the two vertical connecting rods in an adjustable manner along the vertical direction.

[0012] As a further improvement of the present invention, a laser rangefinder is installed at the rear side of the second fixing plate. The laser rangefinder is limited by the first step groove at the rear side of the second fixing plate; the slide table cylinder is limited by the second step groove at the front side of the second fixing plate.

[0013] As a further improvement of the present invention, a pressing reserved hole for the pressing block to pass through is provided on the copper nozzle bracket. After the pressing block passes through the pressing reserved hole, the position to be welded of the battery module is pressed.

[0014] As a further improvement of the present invention, the upper half of the dust suction hood is hollowed out and wraps around the outside of the copper nozzle installed on the copper nozzle assembly.

[0015] As a further improvement of the present invention, a guiding chute is provided along the vertical direction on the front side of the third fixing plate. The camera is installed at the bottom of the camera support. The light source is installed on the light source mounting plate. The camera support and the light source mounting plate can slide and be locked along the vertical direction in the guiding chute respectively.

[0016] As a further improvement of the present invention, a baffle cylinder is installed at the bottom of the rear side of the third fixing plate. The baffle cylinder drives the baffle located below the light source to move in the front-rear direction.

[0017] By means of the above scheme, the present invention has at least the following advantages:

[0018] The present invention is integrally installed on the end flange of a six-axis robot, and multi-faceted flexible welding of the battery module can be realized with a single clamping, reducing the volume of the welding equipment and improving the application flexibility of the laser welding equipment for welding and processing different welding surfaces in different scenarios.

[0019] The present invention modularizes the galvanometer scanner, air knife, nozzle assembly, and vision assembly in the welding component. At the same time, the camera, light source, air knife, nozzle, etc. are designed to be adjustable. When the welded product is replaced, welding can be implemented by replacing the welding component as a whole, locally replacing or finely adjusting the component, which improves the equipment changeover efficiency and reusability.

[0020] The present invention conducts a multi-functional integrated design for the end effector of the welding robot, realizing the integration of welding positioning, distance measurement, inert gas protection, dust collection, and laser welding, and improving the welding efficiency and welding quality of the equipment.

[0021] The above description is only an overview of the technical solution of the present invention. In order to be able to understand the technical means of the present invention more clearly and implement it in accordance with the content of the description, the following takes the preferred embodiments of the present invention and describes them in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0022] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings required for use in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. It should be understood that the following drawings only show some embodiments of the present invention and should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0023] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of a robot laser welding integration device for a battery module of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 2 is Figure 1 a schematic structural diagram of the welding component in;

[0025] Figure 3 is Figure 2 a schematic structural diagram of the nozzle assembly in;

[0026] Figure 4 is Figure 2 a schematic structural diagram of the vision component in.

[0027] Among them, the meanings of the reference numerals in the drawings are as follows.

[0028] 1 Base; 2 Six-axis robot; 3 Welding component;

[0029] 31 First fixing plate; 32 Galvanometer scanner; 321 Light outlet; 33 Air knife bracket; 331 Vertical connecting rod; 34 Air knife; 35 Nozzle assembly; 36 Vision component;

[0030] 351 Second fixing plate; 352 Slide cylinder; 353 Copper nozzle bracket; 354 Copper nozzle assembly; 354-1 Compression block; 355 Dust suction hood; 356 Laser rangefinder;

[0031] 361 Third fixing plate; 362 Camera support; 363 Camera; 364 Light source mounting plate; 365 Light source; 366 Baffle cylinder; 367 Baffle. Detailed implementation manners

[0032] The following will further describe in detail the specific implementation manners of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. The following embodiments are used to illustrate the present invention, but are not used to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0033] In order to enable those skilled in the art of this technology to better understand the solution of the present invention, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Usually, the components of the embodiments of the present invention described and shown in the accompanying drawings here can be arranged and designed in various different configurations. Therefore, the detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention provided in the accompanying drawings below is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention claimed, but merely represents the selected embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0034] As Figures 1 to 4 shown, the embodiment of the present invention:

[0035] As Figure 1 shown is a robot laser welding integration device for a battery module, including a base 1, a six-axis robot 2, and a welding assembly 3. The base 1 is fixed to the ground by bolts, and the six-axis robot 2 is mounted on the base 1 by bolts.

[0036] As Figure 2The welding assembly 3 is shown, including a first fixing plate 31, a galvanometer head 32, an air knife support 33, an air knife 34, a nozzle assembly 35 and a vision assembly 36. The first fixing plate 31 is installed on the flange surface of the sixth axis of the six-axis robot 2 by bolt connection, and is used to install the galvanometer head 32, the nozzle assembly 35 and the vision assembly 36 of the welding assembly 3. When the welding object changes, the rapid change of the welding assembly 3 can be realized by disassembling and replacing the first fixing plate 31. The galvanometer head 32 is locked on the top of the first fixing plate 31 by screws, and can control the laser emission angle and emit laser according to the position information fed back by the vision assembly 36. The air knife support 33 is installed on the outer side of the galvanometer head 32 along the X direction by threaded connection, and the width along the Y axis covers the light-emitting range of the light-emitting port 321 of the galvanometer head 32. The air knife 34 is fixedly installed on the vertical connecting rod 331 of the air knife support 33 by screw connection, and the distance between the air knife 34 and the galvanometer head 32 can be adjusted up and down by adjusting the tightness of the screw and the vertical connecting rod 331. The nozzle assembly 35 is installed on the lower right side of the first fixing plate 31 by threaded connection, and is used for pressing the welding structure, dust suction and height ranging. The vision assembly 36 is installed on the lower left side of the first fixing plate 31, and is used for acquiring the image of the battery module to be welded and identifying and positioning the welding area of the battery module.

[0037] As Figure 3The nozzle assembly 35 is shown as follows, including a second fixed plate 351, a slide cylinder 352, a copper nozzle bracket 353, a copper nozzle assembly 354, a dust suction hood 355, and a laser rangefinder 356. The second fixed plate 351 is installed on the second fixed plate 31 by threaded connection. The second fixed plate 351 is provided with a first stepped groove for limiting the slide cylinder 352. The slide cylinder 352 is fixedly installed on the lower side of the first stepped groove of the second fixed plate 351 by threaded connection, and is used to adjust the height of the copper nozzle bracket 353 in the Z-axis direction. The copper nozzle bracket 353 is installed on the slide plate of the slide cylinder 352 by threaded connection, and is used to support the copper nozzle assembly 354 and the dust suction hood 355. There are reserved holes on the bracket 353 for passing through the exposed pressing block 354-1 of the copper nozzle assembly 354. The copper nozzle 354 is fixedly installed on the bracket 353 by threaded connection. The copper nozzle assembly 354 is internally connected with a nitrogen gas flow circuit, and nitrogen gas can be passed during welding to prevent oxidation of the welding part. The exposed pressing part 354-1 of the copper nozzle assembly 354 can pass through the reserved hole of the copper nozzle bracket 353 to press the welding part of the battery module. The upper half of the dust suction hood 355 is hollowed out, and is fixedly installed on the upper side of the copper nozzle bracket 353 and tightly surrounds the outside of the copper nozzle of the copper nozzle assembly 354, and is used to clean the surface of the to-be-welded part before welding and adsorb the fumes during the welding process. The laser rangefinder 356 is installed at the lower rear of the second fixed plate 351 and is limited by the second stepped groove of the second fixed plate 351, and is used to measure the height of the to-be-welded surface, so as to accurately adjust the descending distance of the limiting slide cylinder 352 and realize the effective pressing of the exposed pressing block 354-1 of the copper nozzle assembly 354 on the to-be-welded position of the battery module.

[0038] As Figure 4The visual component 36 is shown as follows, including a third fixed plate 361, a camera support 362, a camera 363, a light source mounting plate 364, a light source 365, a baffle cylinder 366 and a baffle 367. The third fixed plate 361 is installed at the lower left of the third fixed plate 31 through threaded connection. The third fixed plate 361 is provided with a guiding chute, and the height of the camera support 362 along the Z-axis direction is adjusted through a manual slide table locking mechanism. The camera support 362 is slidably connected with the guiding chute of the fixed plate 361 and is used to adjust the height between the camera 363 and the surface of the battery module to be welded. The camera 363 is fixedly installed on the camera support 362 through threaded connection and is used to collect images of the battery module to be welded for subsequent image analysis, identification of the parts to be welded, and determination of the positions (Xi, Yi) in the coordinate system of the six-axis robot 2, where i = 1, 2... N, and N is the total number of welding points; the light source mounting plate 364 is fixedly installed below the third fixed plate 361 through threaded connection. The light source mounting plate 364 can slide in the guiding chute of the third fixed plate 361, and the height of the light source along the Z-axis direction is adjusted through a manual slide table locking mechanism. The light source 365 is installed on the light source mounting plate 364 through threaded connection and is used for high-contrast clear imaging of the battery module to be welded; the baffle cylinder 366 is installed at the lower rear of the third fixed plate 361 and can expand and contract horizontally along the Y-axis direction. The baffle 367 is fixedly installed on the push plate of the baffle cylinder 366, and the distance between the baffle 367 and the third fixed plate 361 is adjusted by adjusting the telescopic rod of the baffle cylinder 366 to block laser reflection from other workstations and prevent damage to the camera 363.

[0039] The robot laser welding integration method for the battery module includes the following steps:

[0040] 1. Set the initial position (X0, Y0, Z0) of the robot movement according to the size and welding accuracy of the battery module to be welded;

[0041] 2. After the battery module to be welded is in place, start the PLC to control the six-axis robot 2 to drive the welding component 3 to the initial position (X0, Y0, Z0) directly above the battery module to be welded;

[0042] 3. Manually adjust the heights of the camera 363 and the light source 365 to ensure clear imaging, and start the continuous movement program of the equipment;

[0043] 4. The PLC controls to turn on the light source 365 and controls the six-axis robot 2 to drive the camera 363 to take pictures of each welding point of the battery module to be welded in sequence until all are taken;

[0044] 5. Perform image processing on the images of each welding point to obtain the image positions (u i , v i ) of each welding point, as well as the actual coordinates (Xi , Y i ), i = 1, 2... N, where N is the total number of welding points, and it is fed back to the PLC;

[0045] 6. The PLC controls the six-axis robot 2 to drive the nozzle assembly 35 to directly above each welding point of the battery module to be welded. The laser rangefinder 356 measures the height of the welding point and calculates the height deviation Z i , i = 1, 2... N, and it is fed back to the PLC;

[0046] 7. The baffle cylinder 366 retracts to drive the baffle 367 to cover the lens of the camera 363; According to the actual coordinates (X1, Y1, Z1) of the first welding point in the coordinate system of the six-axis robot 2, the PLC controls the six-axis robot 2 to drive the welding assembly 3 to the first welding point, and the slide cylinder 352 extends to drive the copper nozzle assembly 354 to press the welding surface;

[0047] 8. Open the nitrogen solenoid valve, and the copper nozzle assembly 354 blows nitrogen; Start dust removal, the dust suction hood 355 sucks dust, and open the air knife 34 blowing solenoid valve to start blowing;

[0048] 9. The galvanometer lens 32 corrects the defocus amount through the ranging height deviation value Z1, and the galvanometer lens 32 emits light to start welding;

[0049] 10. Repeat the welding steps 6 - 9 until all points (X i , Y i , Z i ), i = 1, 2... N, of the current end face of the battery module are all welded;

[0050] 11. When welding other sides, the six-axis robot 2 drives the vision assembly 36 to rotate 90° to the side of the battery module, and repeat steps 1 - 10 to complete the position measurement, height measurement, and welding of the side welding points;

[0051] 12. Repeat steps 1 - 11 until all end faces of the battery module at the current clamping station are welded;

[0052] 13. The six-axis robot 2 resets to the origin (0, 0, 0), the battery module automatically moves to the unloading station, and the battery module is taken out to complete the welding.

[0053] The present invention is integrally installed on the end flange of the six-axis robot, and multi-sided flexible welding of the battery module can be realized with a single clamping, reducing the volume of the welding equipment and improving the application flexibility of the laser welding equipment for welding different welding surfaces in different scenarios.

[0054] Modular design is carried out on the galvanometer scanner, air knife, nozzle assembly and vision assembly in the welding component. At the same time, adjustable designs are made for the camera, light source, air knife, nozzle, etc. When replacing the welded product, welding can be implemented by replacing the welding component as a whole, locally replacing or fine-tuning the component, which improves the equipment changeover efficiency and reusability.

[0055] Multifunctional integrated design is carried out on the end effector of the welding robot to realize the integration of welding positioning, ranging, inert gas protection, dust collection and laser welding, improving the welding efficiency and welding quality of the equipment.

[0056] Among them, the X-axis direction described in this article is the front-back direction as shown in Figure 1 The Y-axis direction described in this article is the left-right direction as shown in Figure 1 The Z-axis direction described in this article is the up-down direction as shown in Figure 1 the up-down direction shown in

[0057] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "up", "down", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings. It is 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 should not be construed as a limitation of the present invention. In addition, the terms "first", "second", etc. are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, features defined with "first", "second", etc. may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of such features. In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more.

[0058] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installation", "connection", "connection" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection. It can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection. It can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium. It can be the communication inside two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood through specific situations.

[0059] The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not used to limit the present invention. It should be pointed out that for those of ordinary skill in the art in this technical field, without departing from the technical principle of the present invention, several improvements and modifications can still be made, and these improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. Robot laser welding integration device for battery module, comprising a six-axis robot (2) mounted on a base (1) and a welding assembly (3) mounted on the six-axis robot (2); It is characterized in that: The welding assembly (3) includes a first fixing plate (31) mounted on the six-axis robot (2). A galvanometer scanner (32) is mounted on the top of the first fixing plate (31). A light outlet (321) is mounted on the bottom of the galvanometer scanner (32). An air knife bracket (33) is mounted on the front side of the galvanometer scanner (32). At least one air knife (34) is mounted on the air knife bracket (33); A nozzle assembly (35) is mounted on the bottom right side of the first fixing plate (31). The nozzle assembly (35) includes a second fixing plate (351) mounted on the first fixing plate (31). A slide table cylinder (352) is mounted on the second fixing plate (351). The slide table cylinder (352) drives the copper nozzle bracket (353) below to move in the vertical direction. A copper nozzle assembly (354) is mounted on the copper nozzle bracket (353). A pressing block (354-1) is mounted on the bottom of the copper nozzle assembly (354). A dust suction hood (355) is mounted on one side of the copper nozzle assembly (354); A vision assembly (36) is mounted on the bottom left side of the first fixing plate (31). The vision assembly (36) includes a third fixing plate (361) mounted on the first fixing plate (31). A camera (363) and a light source (365) are sequentially mounted on the third fixing plate (361) from top to bottom.

2. The robot laser welding integration device for the battery module according to claim 1, characterized in that, The air knife bracket (33) covers the light output range of the light outlet (321) in the left-right direction. Vertical connecting rods (331) are mounted on both the left and right sides of the bottom of the air knife bracket (33). The left and right sides of the air knife (34) are adjustably mounted between the two vertical connecting rods (331) along the vertical direction.

3. The robot laser welding integration device for the battery module according to claim 1, characterized in that, A laser rangefinder (356) is mounted on the rear side of the second fixing plate (351). The laser rangefinder (356) is limited by a first step groove on the rear side of the second fixing plate (351); the slide table cylinder (352) is limited by a second step groove on the front side of the second fixing plate (351).

4. The robot laser welding integration device for the battery module according to claim 1, wherein, A pressing reserved hole for the pressing block (354-1) to pass through is formed on the copper nozzle bracket (353). After the pressing block (354-1) passes through the pressing reserved hole, the position to be welded of the battery module is pressed.

5. The robot laser welding integration device for the battery module according to claim 1, characterized in that, The upper half of the dust suction hood (355) is hollowed out and wraps around the outside of the copper nozzle mounted on the copper nozzle assembly (354).

6. The robot laser welding integration device for the battery module according to claim 1, characterized in that, A guiding chute is formed vertically on the front side of the third fixing plate (361). The camera (363) is mounted on the bottom of the camera support (362). The light source (365) is mounted on the light source mounting plate (364). The camera support (362) and the light source mounting plate (364) can slide and be locked vertically in the guiding chute respectively.

7. The robot laser welding integration device for the battery module according to claim 1, wherein, A baffle cylinder (366) is installed at the rear bottom of the third fixing plate (361), and the baffle cylinder (366) drives a baffle (367) located below the light source (365) to move in the front-rear direction.

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