Automatic discharging device suitable for lithium battery positive electrode material

Abstract

The invention discloses an automatic discharging device suitable for a lithium battery positive electrode material. The automatic discharging device comprises a conveying roller line, a jacking mechanism, an overturning discharging bin, a hooking mechanism and a pushing-out mechanism which are arranged on a rack. The conveying roller line is used for automatically conveying saggars to a preset discharging position, the jacking mechanism is arranged at the bottom of the conveying roller line and used for automatically lifting the saggars to a preset discharging height at the preset discharging position, and the overturning discharging bin is arranged on the side portion of the conveying roller line and used for conveying the saggars to the preset discharging height. The hooking-in mechanism and the pushing-out mechanism are arranged on the two opposite sides of the overturning discharging bin correspondingly, the hooking-in mechanism is used for hooking the saggar into the overturning discharging bin, the overturning discharging bin is used for achieving overturning discharging of the saggar, and the pushing-out mechanism is used for pushing the discharged saggar into the conveying roller line. The discharging device has the advantages of being compact in structure, convenient to operate, high in reliability and the like, the original serial roller way form is changed by adopting the off-line discharging structure design, and the defect that normal operation of a whole automatic system is affected due to the fact that the discharging device breaks down is effectively overcome.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of lithium battery material production technology, and specifically to an automatic unloading device suitable for lithium battery cathode materials. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid development of lithium battery technology and the continuous improvement of lithium battery material production processes, more comprehensive and higher requirements have been placed on the functionality, performance, and stability of lithium battery material production equipment. As lithium battery cathode materials (ternary materials and iron-phosphorus materials) continue to evolve, ternary materials are moving towards high-nickel systems, while iron-phosphorus materials are moving towards high-compact, high-density systems. Simultaneously, the maturing market demands continuously increasing cathode material production to reduce lithium battery production costs. Therefore, automated equipment must be highly adaptable to material characteristics and environmental requirements, and possess high-frequency, high-stability performance to meet the requirements of lithium battery material production processes and market demands.

[0003] Existing lithium-ion battery cathode material production lines use tilting unloading devices that only provide basic unloading functionality. The tilting unloading saggers are fixed to a roller conveyor using cylinders, and the entire conveyor rotates to tilt and unload the saggers. Therefore, the unloading device's sealing, functionality, stability, cycle time, and maintainability fail to meet the requirements of lithium-ion battery material production, thus hindering production. Specifically, the existing tilting unloading devices in lithium-ion battery cathode material production lines have the following technical shortcomings.

[0004] (1) The tilting unloading device achieves the tilting and unloading of the sagger by fixing the sagger with a cylinder inside the device and the tilting roller conveyor with a motor. The entire tilting disc surface needs to be sealed, resulting in a complex device structure, poor equipment stability, and frequent maintenance of the tilting unloading device, making it difficult to control the air, water and powder inside the device.

[0005] (2) The overturning unloading device is connected in series with the conveyor line. Since the overturning device is connected in series with the conveyor line, if the overturning device malfunctions, the entire conveying system will be interrupted, which will greatly affect the efficiency of automatic production.

[0006] (3) The tilting and unloading function is limited, and can only achieve simple tilting and unloading, with low tilting efficiency. In the existing lithium battery material production process, the material is prone to agglomeration in the sagger, and simple tilting and unloading cannot smoothly unload all the material. In addition, the process requires that there should be no residual material in the sagger, which cannot be achieved by simple tilting and unloading. Therefore, some material will remain on the wall, which will have an adverse effect on the sintering of the new material in the subsequent sintering.

[0007] (4) The tipping unloading device requires the roller conveyor to be in place and the cylinder to clamp and limit the material before tipping unloading. Therefore, the unloading device needs to be equipped with a blocking mechanism, a clamping and limiting mechanism and related detection sensors, which makes the unloading device complex. In addition, the dust from tipping the material has a great impact on the mechanism and detection sensors, which greatly reduces the stability of the device.

[0008] In view of this, there is an urgent need to develop an automatic unloading device suitable for lithium battery cathode materials, in order to meet the needs of lithium battery cathode material process development and market demand. Summary of the Invention

[0009] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to address the shortcomings of existing lithium battery cathode material unloading devices, and to provide an automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials that is compact in structure, easy to operate, stable and reliable.

[0010] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows: An automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials includes a conveyor roller conveyor, a lifting mechanism, a tilting unloading bin, a hooking mechanism, and a pushing mechanism mounted on a frame. The conveyor roller conveyor is used to automatically transport the crucibles to a preset unloading position. The lifting mechanism is located at the bottom of the conveyor roller conveyor to automatically raise and lower the crucibles from the preset unloading position to a preset unloading height. The tilting unloading bin is located on the side of the conveyor roller conveyor. The hooking mechanism and the pushing mechanism are respectively located on opposite sides of the tilting unloading bin. The hooking mechanism is used to hook the crucibles on the conveyor roller conveyor into the tilting unloading bin. The tilting unloading bin is used to tilt and unload the crucibles. The pushing mechanism is used to push the unloaded crucibles back into the conveyor roller conveyor.

[0011] As a further improvement of the present invention, the tilting unloading bin includes a bin body and a tilting mechanism; the bin body is fixed on the frame, the drive end of the tilting mechanism is fixed on the frame, and the execution end of the tilting mechanism is disposed in the bin body for mounting the sagger, and the drive end is sealed through the bin body and connected to the execution end so as to realize that the execution end drives the sagger to tilt and unload.

[0012] As a further improvement of the present invention, the driving end of the flipping mechanism includes a flipping motor and an elastic coupling, and the execution end of the flipping mechanism includes a limiting frame and a rotating shaft. The limiting frame is set inside the bin, one end of the rotating shaft is connected to the limiting frame, and the other end of the rotating shaft is sealed through the bin and connected to the flipping motor through the elastic coupling, so as to realize that the flipping motor drives the limiting frame to drive the sagger to flip and unload the material.

[0013] As a further improvement of the present invention, the flipping mechanism further includes a support base, which is disposed on the frame and has a limiting ring. The rotating shaft passes through the limiting ring and is connected to the elastic coupling.

[0014] As a further improvement of the present invention, an air balancer is provided on the top of the chamber.

[0015] As a further improvement of the present invention, an observation window is also provided on the top of the chamber.

[0016] As a further improvement of the present invention, an inspection window is provided on the side of the compartment.

[0017] As a further improvement of the present invention, the bottom of the silo is provided with a discharge port, and multiple high-pressure jet pipes are evenly distributed on the inner side of the discharge port.

[0018] As a further improvement of the present invention, the side of the silo facing the conveyor roller line is provided with an automatically opening and closing gate.

[0019] As a further improvement of the present invention, multiple tilting unloading bins, hooking mechanisms and ejection mechanisms are provided on the side of the conveyor roller conveyor line, and the multiple tilting unloading bins are connected in series to realize the synchronous tilting and unloading of multiple saggers.

[0020] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of the present invention are as follows: 1. The automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials of the present invention, by independently setting up the conveyor roller line and the tilting unloading bin, and through the cooperation of the lifting mechanism, hooking mechanism and pushing mechanism, realizes the automatic entry of the crucible into the tilting unloading bin, and achieves simple and efficient offline tilting unloading. The working state of the tilting unloading bin does not affect the normal operation of the conveyor roller line, which can reduce the complexity of the equipment, improve the stability of the equipment, and enable efficient and convenient maintenance of the unloading device. At the same time, multiple tilting unloading bins can be set on the side of the conveyor roller line for series control. There is no waiting delay when unloading multiple crucibles, reducing the interdependence of multiple unloading devices, maximizing the system cycle time and stability, and significantly improving the equipment capacity.

[0021] 2. The automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials of the present invention uses an electric cylinder to push the sagger away from the roller conveyor and into the unloading bin. The sagger is rotated independently by a motor, reducing the correlation between roller conveyor conveying and sagger unloading. At the same time, the frame-type sagger frame drives the sagger to tumble and unload, which can eliminate the need for obstruction, clamping and other structures and related detection sensors, greatly simplifying the structure of the unloading device and improving the overall stability of the device.

[0022] 3. The automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials of the present invention, by cooperating the rotating shaft with the spring coupling, can achieve elastic buffering after the limiting frame rotates to its position, realizing the vibration of the limiting frame, which in turn drives the sagger to shake, effectively emptying the lumpy material in the sagger and avoiding the phenomenon of material blocks getting stuck in the sagger. At the same time, the spring coupling can also effectively protect the tilting motor from the impact caused by the collision of the limiting frame.

[0023] 4. The automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials of the present invention, by configuring multiple high-pressure jet pipes on the inner side of the discharge port at the bottom of the bin, forms a high-pressure strong purging air knife, which can realize strong high-pressure air cleaning of the inner wall and four corners of the bin after the bin is turned over and unloaded, and can completely eliminate the phenomenon of material residue sticking to the wall after the bin is unloaded. Attached Figure Description

[0024] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the structural principle of an automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials in a specific embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the structural principle of the tipping unloading bin in a specific embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structural principle of the flipping mechanism in a specific embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Legend: 1. Conveyor roller conveyor; 2. Lifting mechanism; 3. Tilting unloading bin; 4. Hook mechanism; 5. Pushing mechanism; 6. Protective cover; 7. Frame; 8. Sagger; 31. Bin body; 32. Tilting mechanism; 33. Inspection window; 34. Observation window; 35. Air balancer; 36. High-pressure jet pipe; 37. Gate; 38. Discharge port; 321. Tilting motor; 322. Support base; 323. Flexible coupling; 324. Limiting frame; 325. Seal; 326. Rotating shaft; 327. Limiting ring. Detailed Implementation

[0026] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific preferred embodiments, but this does not limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0027] In the description of this invention, it should be understood that the terms "side", "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc., indicating the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, are only for the convenience of describing this invention and simplifying the description, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this invention.

[0028] Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this invention, "a plurality of" means two or more unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0029] Example like Figure 1 As shown, the automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials of the present invention includes a conveyor roller 1, a lifting mechanism 2, a tilting unloading bin 3, a hooking mechanism 4, and a pushing mechanism 5, all mounted on a frame 7. The conveyor roller 1 automatically conveys the crucibles 8 to a preset unloading position. To improve the safety of material conveying, a protective cover 6 is also provided on the side of the frame 7. The lifting mechanism 2 is located at the bottom of the conveyor roller 1 to automatically raise and lower the crucibles 8 from the preset unloading position to a preset unloading height. The tilting unloading bin 3 is located on the side of the conveyor roller 1. The hooking mechanism 4 and the pushing mechanism 5 are respectively located on opposite sides of the tilting unloading bin 3. The hooking mechanism 4 hooks the crucibles 8 on the conveyor roller 1 into the tilting unloading bin 3, which in turn tilts the crucibles 8 for unloading. The pushing mechanism 5 pushes the unloaded crucibles 8 back into the conveyor roller 1.

[0030] In this embodiment, the lifting mechanism 2, the hooking mechanism 4, and the pushing mechanism 5 all use servo motors to drive the lead screw, which drives the lifting plate, hook head, and push head to move the sagger 8 in a stable and controllable manner, so that the sagger 8 can be offline and entered efficiently, smoothly, and reliably.

[0031] In this embodiment, by independently setting up the conveyor roller line 1 and the tilting unloading bin 3, and through the cooperation of the lifting mechanism 2, the hooking mechanism 4, and the ejection mechanism 5, the scoops 8 automatically enter the tilting unloading bin 3, achieving simple and efficient offline tilting unloading. The working state of the tilting unloading bin 3 does not affect the normal operation of the conveyor roller line 1, which reduces equipment complexity, improves equipment stability, and allows for efficient and convenient maintenance of the unloading device. Meanwhile, along the material conveying direction, multiple tilting unloading bins 3, hooking mechanisms 4, and ejection mechanisms 5 are set on the side of the conveyor roller line 1. These multiple tilting unloading bins 3 can be connected in series for control, enabling multiple scoops 8 to tilt and unload synchronously. There is no waiting delay when multiple scoops 8 are unloading, reducing the interrelationship between multiple unloading devices, maximizing system cycle time and stability, and significantly improving equipment capacity.

[0032] like Figure 2 As shown, the tilting unloading bin 3 includes a bin body 31 and a tilting mechanism 32. The bin body 31 is fixed on the frame 7, the drive end of the tilting mechanism 32 is fixed on the frame 7, and the execution end of the tilting mechanism 32 is located inside the bin body 31 for carrying the crucible 8. The drive end is sealed and penetrates into the bin body 31 and is connected to the execution end, thereby realizing that the execution end drives the crucible 8 to tilt and unload.

[0033] like Figure 3 As shown, the driving end of the tilting mechanism 32 includes a tilting motor 321 and a flexible coupling 323, while the executing end of the tilting mechanism 32 includes a limiting frame 324 and a rotating shaft 326. The limiting frame 324 is disposed inside the bin 31. One end of the rotating shaft 326 is connected to the limiting frame 324, and the other end of the rotating shaft 326 is sealed through the bin 31 and connected to the tilting motor 321 via the flexible coupling 323, so that the tilting motor 321 drives the limiting frame 324 to tilt the sagger 8 for unloading.

[0034] In this embodiment, by cooperating with the rotating shaft 326 and the spring coupling 323, the limiting frame 324 can be elastically buffered after rotating into position, causing the limiting frame 324 to vibrate and thus drive the sagger 8 to shake. This effectively emptys the blocky material in the sagger 8 completely, preventing material blocks from getting stuck. At the same time, the spring coupling 323 can also effectively protect the tilting motor 321 from the impact caused by the collision of the limiting frame 324, ensuring the reliable operation of the tilting motor 321.

[0035] In this embodiment, an electric cylinder is used to push the sagger 8 away from the roller conveyor and into the unloading bin. The tilting sagger is driven by a motor to rotate independently, reducing the correlation between roller conveyor conveying and tilting unloading. At the same time, the frame-type tilting frame drives the sagger to tilt and unload, which can eliminate the need for obstruction, clamping and other structures and related detection sensors, greatly simplifying the structure of the unloading device and improving the overall stability of the device.

[0036] In this embodiment, the flipping mechanism 32 also includes a support base 322, which is mounted on the frame 7 and has a limiting ring 327. The rotating shaft 326 passes through the limiting ring 327 and is connected to the elastic coupling 323 to ensure that the limiting frame 324 drives the casket 8 to flip smoothly.

[0037] like Figure 2 As shown, the top of the hopper 31 is equipped with an observation window 34 and an air balancer 35. The observation window 34 allows for precise observation of the unloading situation inside the hopper 31, while the air balancer 35 balances the pressure inside and outside the hopper 31, preventing dust inside the hopper 31 from escaping due to excessive pressure.

[0038] like Figure 2 As shown, a maintenance window 33 is provided on the side of the bin 31 to facilitate maintenance of the bin 31. Meanwhile, an automatically opening and closing gate 37 is provided on the side of the bin 31 facing the conveyor roller line 1, ensuring that high-pressure purging does not affect the leakage of dust from the tipping unloading bin 3. Specifically, the gate 37 can be automatically opened and closed by a servo motor-driven lead screw.

[0039] like Figure 2 As shown, the bottom of the bin 31 is provided with a discharge port 38, and multiple high-pressure jet pipes 36 are evenly distributed on the inner side of the discharge port 38. By arranging multiple high-pressure jet pipes 36 on the inner side of the discharge port 38 at the bottom of the bin 31, a high-pressure and strong blowing air knife is formed, which can realize strong high-pressure blowing to clean the inner wall and four corners of the saucer 8 after the saucer 8 is turned over and dumped, and can completely eliminate the phenomenon of material residue sticking to the wall after the saucer 8 is dumped.

[0040] In this embodiment, the unloading process of the sagger 8 is as follows: (1) After the sagger 8 is in place, the lifting mechanism 2 lifts the sagger 8 to detach it from the line, and at the same time the gate 37 on the side of the bin 31 is opened. (2) The hooking mechanism 4 sends the casket 8 into the limiting frame 324 in the tipping unloading bin 3, the hooking mechanism 4 returns to its original position, and the gate 37 closes; (3) The flip motor 321 drives the rotating shaft 326 to rotate, thereby driving the limiting frame 324 to rotate 180° to realize the dumping of the sagger 8. After dumping, the high-pressure jet pipe 36 blows the inner wall and four corners of the sagger 8 to realize the cleaning of the sticky wall inside the sagger 8. After blowing, the limiting frame 324 rotates back to its original position. (4) When the gate 37 is opened, the push-out mechanism 5 and the lifting mechanism 2 work together to send the casket 8 into the conveyor roller line 1, thus realizing the whole process of unloading the casket.

[0041] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. All technical solutions falling within the scope of the present invention's concept are within the scope of protection of the present invention. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, any improvements and modifications made without departing from the principles of the present invention should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automatic unloading device suitable for lithium battery cathode materials, characterized in that, The system includes a conveyor roller line (1), a lifting mechanism (2), a tilting unloading bin (3), a hooking mechanism (4), and a pushing mechanism (5) mounted on a frame (7). The conveyor roller line (1) is used to automatically convey the sagger (8) to a preset unloading position. The lifting mechanism (2) is located at the bottom of the conveyor roller line (1) to automatically lift the sagger (8) to a preset unloading height at the preset unloading position. The tilting unloading bin (3) is located on the side of the conveyor roller line (1). The hooking mechanism (4) and the pushing mechanism (5) are located on opposite sides of the tilting unloading bin (3). The hooking mechanism (4) is used to hook the sagger (8) on the conveyor roller line (1) into the tilting unloading bin (3). The tilting unloading bin (3) is used to tilt and unload the sagger (8). The pushing mechanism (5) is used to push the unloaded sagger (8) into the conveyor roller line (1).

2. The automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials according to claim 1, characterized in that, The tilting unloading bin (3) includes a bin body (31) and a tilting mechanism (32); the bin body (31) is fixed on the frame (7), the drive end of the tilting mechanism (32) is fixed on the frame (7), the execution end of the tilting mechanism (32) is set inside the bin body (31) for carrying the sagger (8), and the drive end is sealed through the bin body (31) and connected to the execution end so as to realize that the execution end drives the sagger (8) to tilt and unload.

3. The automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials according to claim 2, characterized in that, The driving end of the flipping mechanism (32) includes a flipping motor (321) and an elastic coupling (323). The execution end of the flipping mechanism (32) includes a limiting frame (324) and a rotating shaft (326). The limiting frame (324) is set inside the bin (31). One end of the rotating shaft (326) is connected to the limiting frame (324). The other end of the rotating shaft (326) is sealed through the bin (31) and then connected to the flipping motor (321) through the elastic coupling (323) so that the flipping motor (321) drives the limiting frame (324) to drive the sagger (8) to flip and unload.

4. The automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials according to claim 3, characterized in that, The flipping mechanism (32) also includes a support base (322), which is mounted on the frame (7) and has a limiting ring (327) on it. The rotating shaft (326) passes through the limiting ring (327) and is connected to the flexible coupling (323).

5. The automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that, The top of the chamber (31) is equipped with an air balancer (35).

6. The automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials according to claim 5, characterized in that, The top of the compartment (31) is also provided with an observation window (34).

7. The automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that, The side of the compartment (31) is provided with an inspection window (33).

8. The automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that, The bottom of the silo body (31) is provided with a discharge port (38), and multiple high-pressure jet pipes (36) are evenly distributed on the inner side of the discharge port (38).

9. The automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that, The silo body (31) is provided with an automatically opening and closing gate (37) on the side facing the conveyor roller line (1).

10. The automatic unloading device for lithium battery cathode materials according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, On the side of the conveyor roller line (1), multiple flip-over unloading bins (3), hook-in mechanism (4) and push-out mechanism (5) are provided, and multiple flip-over unloading bins (3) are connected in series to realize the synchronous flip-over unloading of multiple saggers (8).

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