Z-shaped bending machine for soft package battery cell tab

Abstract

The invention discloses a soft package battery cell tab Z-shaped bending machine which comprises a plurality of bending devices, each bending device comprises a bending support, a base, a lifting driving unit, an upper bending mechanism, a lower bending mechanism and a material pressing structure, and the upper bending mechanism comprises an upper bending driving air cylinder, an upper bending cutter and a pre-pressing block; the material pressing structure comprises a material pressing finger and a material pressing connecting assembly. The lower bending mechanism comprises a lower bending driving cylinder and a lower bending knife; when the tab is bent, the pre-pressing block is driven by the upper bending driving air cylinder to press the root of the tab, and the tab is bent through cooperation of descending of the upper bending cutter of the upper bending driving air cylinder and ascending of the lower bending cutter of the lower bending driving air cylinder. Therefore, automatic bending of the tabs of the battery cells can be achieved, the bending strength is the same, the bending degrees of the tabs of the different battery cells are consistent, and the consistency and the yield are guaranteed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of mechanical device technology, and in particular to a Z-type bending machine for the tabs of soft-pack battery cells. Background Technology

[0002] In today's era of pursuing clean and environmentally friendly energy development, new energy vehicles are widely used in people's lives. The battery cell is the heart of an electric vehicle. Multiple battery cells are assembled into a battery cell assembly, and multiple battery cell assemblies are then combined to form a complete battery cell module. The battery cell module can be roughly regarded as a rectangular cube.

[0003] In the production process of the aforementioned battery cell module (or lithium battery), it is usually necessary to bend the tabs of individual cells. Currently, most of the tab bending operations are done manually. However, due to the difference in manual strength, the degree of tab bending will be inconsistent, affecting consistency and accuracy. Moreover, because each worker has different control over the force, the tabs are easy to break, thereby increasing the defect rate. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The main technical problem solved by this invention is to provide a Z-type bending machine for the tabs of soft-pack battery cells. The machine has an ingenious structural design and can automatically bend the tabs of the battery cells. The bending force is the same for all cells, so the bending degree of the tabs of different cells is consistent, thus ensuring consistency and yield.

[0005] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, one technical solution adopted by the present invention is: to provide a Z-type bending machine for the tabs of soft-pack battery cells, the bending machine including multiple bending devices, each bending device including a bending bracket, a base, a lifting drive unit, and an upper bending mechanism, a lower bending mechanism and a pressing structure disposed on the base, the base being installed on the surface of the bending bracket and driven to lift and lower by the lifting drive unit;

[0006] The upper bending mechanism includes an upper bending drive cylinder, an upper bending blade, and a pre-pressing block. The pre-pressing block is installed on the lower side of the front end of the upper bending blade, and the height of the pre-pressing block on the upper bending blade is adjustable. The lower end of the push rod of the upper bending drive cylinder is fixedly installed on the upper part of the upper bending blade.

[0007] The pressing structure includes a pressing finger and a pressing connecting assembly. The upper end of the pressing finger is fixed to the pressing connecting assembly, and the pressing finger is fixed to the base through the pressing connecting assembly. The lower end of the pressing finger passes through the longitudinal through hole inside the upper bending knife and can extend out.

[0008] The downward bending mechanism includes a downward bending drive cylinder and a downward bending blade, wherein the downward bending blade is mounted on the upper end of the push rod of the downward bending drive cylinder;

[0009] When bending the electrode tab, the pre-compression block is driven by the upper bending drive cylinder to press down the root of the electrode tab. The bending of the electrode tab is achieved by the upper bending blade of the upper bending drive cylinder descending and the lower bending blade of the lower bending drive cylinder rising.

[0010] Furthermore, the upper bending mechanism also includes a connecting plate, a first bolt, and a second bolt. The surface of the pre-pressing block is provided with multiple longitudinally extending waist-shaped holes, and the upper bending blade is provided with locking holes. The pre-pressing block is fixed and its installation height is adjusted by aligning different positions of the waist-shaped holes with the locking holes using the first bolt. The connecting plate is fixedly installed on the surface of the upper bending blade, and the pre-pressing plate is fixed longitudinally to the connecting plate by the second bolt passing through the longitudinal holes of the connecting plate and the pre-pressing block.

[0011] Furthermore, a pressing step is formed on the lower end face of the pre-pressed block, near the upper bending blade, with a height of 0.08-0.12mm and a width of 0.4-0.8mm.

[0012] Furthermore, a support block is fixedly installed at the lower end of the base, and the support block is located directly below the preload block;

[0013] A support step is formed on the upper surface of the support block, near the lower bending blade. The height of the support step is 0.4-0.6 mm and the width is 1.0-1.4 mm.

[0014] Furthermore, the pressing connection assembly includes a horizontal plate and two side plates. The middle of the horizontal plate has a U-shaped groove to facilitate the passage of the push rod of the upper bending drive cylinder. The two pressing fingers are located on both sides of the push rod of the upper bending drive cylinder and their upper ends are fixed to the horizontal plate. The two ends of the horizontal plate are fixed to the side plates, and the two side plates are fixed to both sides of the base.

[0015] Furthermore, a stepped groove is formed on the upper part of the surface of the downward bending blade, the stepped groove having a depth of 0.25-0.30mm and a height of 8-12mm.

[0016] Furthermore, the bending device also includes a bending translation drive mechanism for driving the bending bracket to translate. The bending translation drive mechanism is a servo motor driven lead screw and nut transmission mechanism, with the nut fixed to the bottom of the bending bracket.

[0017] Furthermore, the bending machine also includes a frame and multiple positioning mechanisms and multiple vision inspection mechanisms disposed on the frame. The number of positioning mechanisms, vision inspection mechanisms and bending devices are the same. The positioning mechanism includes a pneumatic gripper, a gripper seat and a positioning lifting drive cylinder capable of driving the gripper seat to rise and fall. The pneumatic gripper is mounted on the gripper seat, and the gripper seat is mounted on the lower end of the positioning lifting drive cylinder. The pneumatic gripper clamps the battery cell from both sides for positioning.

[0018] The visual inspection mechanism is a visual inspection camera, and the light source required by the visual inspection mechanism is installed on the support block.

[0019] The beneficial effects of this invention are:

[0020] The bending machine of the present invention includes multiple bending devices, each of which includes a bending bracket, a base, a lifting drive unit, an upper bending mechanism, a lower bending mechanism, and a pressing structure. The upper bending mechanism includes an upper bending drive cylinder, an upper bending blade, and a pre-pressing block; the pressing structure includes pressing fingers and a pressing connecting assembly; the lower bending mechanism includes a lower bending drive cylinder and a lower bending blade. When bending the electrode tab, the pre-pressing block is driven by the upper bending drive cylinder to press down the root of the electrode tab. The bending of the electrode tab is achieved by the combined action of the upper bending blade descending through the upper bending drive cylinder and the lower bending blade rising through the lower bending drive cylinder. Therefore, the present invention can realize automatic bending of the electrode tab of the battery cell, and the bending force is the same. Therefore, the bending degree of the electrode tabs of different battery cells is consistent, thus ensuring consistency and yield.

[0021] Furthermore, the invention incorporates a dedicated pressing structure because waste material is generated during the bending process of the electrode tab, which can easily cause the cutting tool to jam. Specifically, when the upper bending blade is lifted after the electrode tab is bent, it may pull the electrode tab up, causing strain on the battery cell and resulting in its scrapping. Therefore, the dedicated pressing structure, which presses down on the electrode tab before lifting the upper bending blade, effectively solves the above problems and ensures the yield rate of the battery cell bending process.

[0022] The above description is merely an overview of the technical solution of the present invention. In order to better understand the technical means of the present invention and to implement it in accordance with the contents of the specification, the preferred embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 This is one of the structural schematic diagrams of the bending device of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 2 This is the second schematic diagram of the bending device of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 3 This is the third structural schematic diagram of the bending device of the present invention (the bending translation drive mechanism is not shown).

[0026] Figure 4 This is a right view of the bending device of the present invention (the bending translation drive mechanism is not shown).

[0027] Figure 5 This is the present invention. Figure 4 A magnified view of part A;

[0028] Figure 6 This is the fourth structural schematic diagram of the bending device of the present invention (the bending translation drive mechanism and the battery cell are not shown).

[0029] Figure 7 This is an exploded structural diagram of the bending device of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 8 This is a right view of the downward bending blade of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the bending machine of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the frame of the present invention;

[0033] The parts in the attached diagram are labeled as follows:

[0034] Bending device 1, bending bracket 11, base 12, lifting drive unit 13, upper bending mechanism 14, upper bending drive cylinder 141, upper bending knife 142, pre-pressing block 143, waist-shaped hole 1431, pressing step 1432, connecting plate 144, second bolt 145, lower bending mechanism 15, lower bending drive cylinder 151, lower bending knife 152, step groove 1521, pressing structure 16, pressing finger 161, horizontal plate 162, side plate 163, support block 17, support step 171, bending translation drive mechanism 18;

[0035] Rack 2;

[0036] Positioning mechanism 3, pneumatic gripper 31, gripper seat 32, positioning lifting drive cylinder 33;

[0037] Visual inspection unit 4, light source 41;

[0038] Battery cell 10, tab 101. Detailed Implementation

[0039] The following specific embodiments illustrate the detailed implementation of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can easily understand the advantages and effects of the present invention from the content disclosed in this specification. The present invention can also be implemented in other different ways, that is, different modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope disclosed in the present invention.

[0040] The descriptions of positions such as up, down, left, and right in this embodiment are based on the orientation in the accompanying drawings, have no special meaning, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this invention.

[0041] Example: A Z-type bending machine for the tabs of a soft-pack battery cell, such as... Figures 1 to 10 As shown, the bending machine includes multiple bending devices 1, each bending device 1 including a bending bracket 11, a base 12, a lifting drive unit 13, and an upper bending mechanism 14, a lower bending mechanism 15, and a pressing structure 16 (e.g., ...) provided on the base. Figure 7 As shown in the figure, the base is mounted on the surface of the bending bracket and is driven to rise and fall by the lifting drive unit;

[0042] like Figures 3 to 7 As shown, the upper bending mechanism 14 includes an upper bending drive cylinder 141, an upper bending blade 142, and a pre-pressing block 143. The pre-pressing block is installed on the lower side of the front end of the upper bending blade, and the height of the pre-pressing block on the upper bending blade can be adjusted. The lower end of the push rod of the upper bending drive cylinder is fixedly installed on the upper part of the upper bending blade.

[0043] like Figures 3 to 7 As shown, the pressing structure 16 includes a pressing finger 161 and a pressing connecting assembly. The upper end of the pressing finger is fixed to the pressing connecting assembly, and the pressing finger is fixed to the base through the pressing connecting assembly. The lower end of the pressing finger passes through the longitudinal through hole inside the upper bending knife and can extend out.

[0044] like Figures 3 to 7 As shown, the lower bending mechanism 15 includes a lower bending drive cylinder 151 and a lower bending blade 152, wherein the lower bending blade is mounted on the upper end of the push rod of the lower bending drive cylinder.

[0045] When bending the electrode tab, the pre-compression block is driven by the upper bending drive cylinder to press down the root of the electrode tab. The bending of the electrode tab is achieved by the upper bending blade of the upper bending drive cylinder descending and the lower bending blade of the lower bending drive cylinder rising.

[0046] In this embodiment, as Figures 3 to 7As shown, the upper bending mechanism 14 also includes a connecting plate 144, a first bolt (not shown in the figure), and a second bolt 145. The surface of the pre-pressing block is provided with multiple longitudinally extending oblong holes 1431, and the upper bending blade is provided with locking holes (not shown in the figure). The pre-pressing block is fixed and its installation height is adjusted by aligning different positions of the oblong holes with the locking holes and locking them (locking from the side) using the first bolt. The connecting plate is fixedly installed on the surface of the upper bending blade, and the pre-pressing plate is fixed to the connecting plate longitudinally by the second bolt passing through the longitudinal holes of the connecting plate and the pre-pressing block. The height of the pre-pressing block can be adjusted to accommodate the bending requirements of tabs of different thicknesses or tabs of different heights after bending.

[0047] In this embodiment, the lifting drive unit is a lifting drive cylinder. The end of the push rod of the lifting drive cylinder is fixed to the upper end of the base. A linear guide rail structure is provided between the bending bracket and the base to ensure the stability and smoothness of the base moving up and down along the bending bracket.

[0048] In this embodiment, a special pressing structure is set up because waste chips are generated during the bending process of the electrode tab, which can easily cause the blade to jam. That is, when the upper bending blade is lifted after the electrode tab is bent, it may pull the electrode tab up, causing the battery cell to be pulled and scrapped. Therefore, a special pressing structure is set up so that the upper bending blade is lifted up when the pressing finger presses down on the electrode tab, which can effectively solve the above problems.

[0049] In this embodiment, as Figure 5 As shown, a pressing step 1432 is formed on the lower end face of the pre-pressed block and the side near the upper bending knife. The height of the pressing step is 0.08-0.12mm and the width is 0.4-0.8mm.

[0050] In this embodiment, as Figure 3 and Figure 7 As shown, a support block 17 is fixedly installed at the lower end of the base, and the support block is located directly below the pre-compression block;

[0051] like Figure 5 As shown, a support step 171 is formed on the upper end face of the support block and the side near the lower bending blade. The height of the support step is 0.4-0.6mm and the width is 1.0-1.4mm.

[0052] The design of the pressing steps of the pre-compression block facilitates the application of the clamping force of the pre-compression block to the root of the electrode tab. The design of the support steps of the support block takes into account the avoidance of the adhesive applied at the connection between the cell body and the electrode tab, so that the support block has sufficient support force. The dimensions of the pressing steps of the pre-compression block and the support steps of the support block are reasonably designed to ensure the best support and clamping effect.

[0053] In this embodiment, as Figures 3 to 7As shown, the pressing connection assembly includes a horizontal plate 162 and two side plates 163. The horizontal plate has a U-shaped groove in the middle to facilitate the passage of the push rod of the upper bending drive cylinder. The two pressing fingers are located on both sides of the push rod of the upper bending drive cylinder and their upper ends are fixed to the horizontal plate. The two ends of the horizontal plate are fixed to the side plates, and the two side plates are fixed to both sides of the base. The above structural design of the pressing connection assembly is to enable the pressing fingers to press the electrode tabs without interfering with the upper bending mechanism. When the pre-pressing block and the upper bending blade move up and down, the pressing fingers can remain stationary and perform the pressing function.

[0054] In this embodiment, as Figure 5 and Figure 8 As shown, a stepped groove 1521 is formed on the upper part of the surface of the downward bending blade. The depth of the stepped groove is 0.25-0.30 mm and the height is 8-12 mm. Figure 5 As shown, the height of the stepped groove should be greater than or equal to the height of the tab after bending. The main purpose of the stepped groove is to correspond to the thickness of the tab when the lower bending knife pushes upward, so as to avoid pushing the tab upward too abruptly, which would make the bending point of the tab not round enough.

[0055] In this embodiment, as Figure 2 As shown, the bending device also includes a bending translation drive mechanism 18 for driving the bending bracket to move horizontally. The bending translation drive mechanism is a servo motor-driven lead screw and nut transmission mechanism, with the nut fixed to the bottom of the bending bracket. This drive mechanism is existing technology and will not be described in detail.

[0056] In this embodiment, as Figure 9 and Figure 10 As shown, the bending machine also includes a frame 2 and multiple positioning mechanisms 3 and multiple vision inspection mechanisms 4 disposed on the frame. The number of positioning mechanisms, vision inspection mechanisms and bending devices are the same. The positioning mechanism 3 includes a pneumatic gripper 31, a gripper seat 32 and a positioning lifting drive cylinder 33 that can drive the gripper seat to rise and fall. The pneumatic gripper is mounted on the gripper seat, and the gripper seat is mounted on the lower end of the positioning lifting drive cylinder. The pneumatic gripper clamps the battery cell 10 from both sides for positioning.

[0057] The visual inspection mechanism is a visual inspection camera, and the light source 41 required by the visual inspection mechanism is installed on the support block. Figure 9 The illustration uses an example with four sets of bending devices. Each set of bending devices includes two bending devices that simultaneously bend the tabs at both ends of the battery cell. Figure 9 The bending machine shown in the diagram can bend the tabs at both ends of four battery cells simultaneously.

[0058] The working principle and process of this invention:

[0059] The positioning and lifting drive cylinder of the positioning drive mechanism drives the gripper seat to position, and the pneumatic gripper clamps the battery cell from both sides. The vision inspection mechanism takes a picture of the battery cell to determine its position and transmits the data to the bending machine's control system. Simultaneously, the compensation value is determined, interacted with the PLC, and transmitted to the servo motor of the bending translation drive mechanism to drive the bending bracket to move. At this time, the support steps of the support block support the battery cell's tab. Then, the bending device bends the battery cell's tab. The state of the bent tab 101 is as follows: Figure 5 As shown.

[0060] The specific process of bending is as follows:

[0061] The lifting drive unit lowers the base and all structures mounted on it into position. Then, the upper bending drive cylinder drives the upper bending blade and pre-pressing block into position. The pressing step of the pre-pressing block presses down on the root of the tab (the tab is horizontal before bending; here, the root of the tab refers to the connection between the tab and the cell body). The position and shape of the inner side of the pre-pressing block and the lower surface of the upper bending blade correspond exactly to the position and shape of the upper surface of the tab after bending. At this time, the lower surface of the pressing finger is flush with or slightly higher than the lower surface of the upper bending blade, ensuring that the lower surface of the pressing finger will not interfere with the tab during bending. When the upper bending blade is raised, it can also block or press down on the tab to prevent it from being lifted by the upper bending blade. Afterward, the lower bending lifting drive cylinder drives the lower bending blade to rise and push the tab upward from below until it is close to the lower surface of the upper bending blade and the inner side of the pre-pressing block. At this time, the tab is bent into the required shape (e.g., Figure 5 As shown in the figure, at this time the pressing finger will press down the electrode tab, and then the upper bending drive cylinder will drive the upper bending knife and the pre-pressing block to lift up, and the lower bending drive cylinder will drive the lower bending knife to descend, and then the battery cell can be taken out.

[0062] in Figure 5 The state shown is a state where, after the electrode tab is bent, the pre-compression block and the upper bending knife are raised upwards, and the lower bending knife is retracted downwards, waiting for material to be picked up.

[0063] The above description is merely an embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the patent scope of the present invention. Any equivalent structure made using the content of the present invention specification and drawings, or directly or indirectly applied to other related technical fields, is similarly included within the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A Z-type bending machine for the tabs of a soft-pack battery cell, characterized in that: The bending machine includes multiple bending devices (1), each bending device (1) includes a bending bracket (11), a base (12), a lifting drive unit (13), and an upper bending mechanism (14), a lower bending mechanism (15), and a pressing structure (16) provided on the base. The base is installed on the surface of the bending bracket and is driven to lift and lower by the lifting drive unit. The upper bending mechanism (14) includes an upper bending drive cylinder (141), an upper bending blade (142), and a pre-pressing block (143). The pre-pressing block is installed on the lower side of the front end of the upper bending blade, and the height of the pre-pressing block on the upper bending blade is adjustable. The lower end of the push rod of the upper bending drive cylinder is fixedly installed on the upper part of the upper bending blade. The pressing structure (16) includes a pressing finger (161) and a pressing connection assembly. The upper end of the pressing finger is fixed to the pressing connection assembly, and the pressing finger is fixed to the base through the pressing connection assembly. The lower end of the pressing finger passes through the longitudinal through hole inside the upper bending knife and can extend out. The lower bending mechanism (15) includes a lower bending drive cylinder (151) and a lower bending blade (152), the lower bending blade being mounted on the upper end of the push rod of the lower bending drive cylinder; When bending the electrode tab, the pre-compression block is driven by the upper bending drive cylinder to press down the root of the electrode tab. The bending of the electrode tab is achieved by the upper bending blade of the upper bending drive cylinder descending and the lower bending blade of the lower bending drive cylinder rising.

2. The Z-type bending machine for the tabs of the soft-pack battery cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper bending mechanism (14) also includes a connecting plate (144), a first bolt and a second bolt (145). The surface of the pre-pressing block is provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending waist-shaped holes (1431). The upper bending knife is provided with locking holes. The pre-pressing block is fixed and the installation height is adjusted by aligning different positions of the waist-shaped holes with the locking holes through the first bolt. The connecting plate is fixedly installed on the surface of the upper bending knife. The pre-pressing plate is fixed to the connecting plate longitudinally through the longitudinal holes of the connecting plate and the pre-pressing block by the second bolt.

3. The Z-type bending machine for the tabs of the soft-pack battery cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: A pressing step (1432) is formed on the lower end face of the pre-pressed block and the side near the upper bending knife. The pressing step has a height of 0.08-0.12mm and a width of 0.4-0.8mm.

4. The Z-type bending machine for the tabs of soft-pack battery cells according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that: A support block (17) is fixedly installed at the lower end of the base, and the support block is located directly below the pre-compression block; A support step (171) is formed on the upper end face of the support block and the side near the lower bending blade. The support step has a height of 0.4-0.6 mm and a width of 1.0-1.4 mm.

5. The Z-type bending machine for the tabs of soft-pack battery cells according to claim 1, characterized in that: The pressing connection assembly includes a horizontal plate (162) and two side plates (163). The middle of the horizontal plate has a U-shaped groove to facilitate the passage of the push rod of the upper bending drive cylinder. The two pressing fingers are located on both sides of the push rod of the upper bending drive cylinder and their upper ends are fixed on the horizontal plate. The two ends of the horizontal plate are fixed on the side plates, and the two side plates are fixed on both sides of the base.

6. The Z-type bending machine for the tabs of the soft-pack battery cell according to claim 1, characterized in that: A stepped groove (1521) is formed on the upper part of the surface of the downward bending blade. The depth of the stepped groove is 0.25-0.30 mm and the height is 8-12 mm.

7. The Z-type bending machine for the tabs of soft-pack battery cells according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bending device also includes a bending translation drive mechanism (18) for driving the bending bracket to translate. The bending translation drive mechanism is a servo motor driven lead screw and nut transmission mechanism, and the nut is fixed to the bottom of the bending bracket.

8. The Z-type bending machine for the tabs of the soft-pack battery cell according to claim 4, characterized in that: The bending machine also includes a frame (2) and multiple positioning mechanisms (3) and multiple vision inspection mechanisms (4) provided on the frame. The number of positioning mechanisms, vision inspection mechanisms and bending devices is the same. The positioning mechanism (3) includes a pneumatic gripper (31), a gripper seat (32) and a positioning lifting drive cylinder (33) that can drive the gripper seat to rise and fall. The pneumatic gripper is installed on the gripper seat, and the gripper seat is installed at the lower end of the positioning lifting drive cylinder. The battery cell (10) is positioned by clamping it from both sides through the pneumatic gripper. The visual inspection mechanism is a visual inspection camera, and the light source (41) required by the visual inspection mechanism is installed on the support block.

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