A non-invasive acceptance device and method for cleanliness of a lithium battery production pipeline
The non-invasive cleanliness acceptance device for lithium battery production pipelines, employing a flexible bonding design and ultraviolet fluorescence excitation technology, combined with a high-definition camera and data processing module, solves the problems of low efficiency, high missed detection rate and poor adaptability in existing technologies, achieving efficient and accurate pipeline cleanliness acceptance.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- YANTAI LIHUA ELECTRIC POWER TECHNOLOGY CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2026-04-28
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-09
AI Technical Summary
Existing cleanliness acceptance technologies for lithium battery production pipelines suffer from low efficiency, high rate of missed detection, easy scratching of the inner wall, poor adaptability, and lack of standardized judgment, making it impossible to meet the stringent cleanliness standards of the lithium battery industry.
A non-invasive cleanliness inspection device for lithium battery production pipelines was designed. It adopts a flexible bonding design, combines ultraviolet fluorescence excitation with a high-definition camera to achieve automated detection, and is equipped with a data processing module for image processing and positioning, and establishes standardized judgment criteria.
It achieves efficient and accurate identification of foreign objects on the inner wall of pipelines, with an identification rate of ≥99%, adapts to complex pipeline layouts, generates standardized inspection reports, reduces labor costs, and avoids secondary pollution.
Smart Images
Figure CN122171572A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to the field of battery production equipment technology, and in particular to a non-invasive acceptance device and method for the cleanliness of lithium battery production pipelines. Background Technology
[0002] The cleanliness of pipelines in a new lithium battery production line directly determines the quality of battery cells and production safety. If foreign matter such as metal shavings, welding residues, and resin debris left during pipeline installation and welding are not thoroughly removed during the acceptance phase, it can lead to contamination of the transport medium, pipeline blockage, equipment wear, and even serious production accidents such as battery cell short circuits.
[0003] Existing pipeline cleaning and acceptance technologies suffer from the following core deficiencies: 1. Manual visual inspection or endoscopic sampling relies on experience, resulting in low efficiency and a high rate of missed detection for minute foreign objects with a particle size ≤0.1mm and transparent / semi-transparent foreign objects, failing to meet the stringent cleanliness standards of the lithium battery industry; 2. Traditional testing devices lack scratch-resistant designs for moving parts, easily scratching the inner wall of new pipelines and causing secondary contamination; 3. The devices have poor adaptability, making it difficult to navigate complex pipeline layouts with multiple bends and diameter changes, resulting in blind spots in inspection; 4. Existing ultraviolet light detection technologies mostly focus on surface crack detection, lacking a dedicated excitation and identification scheme designed for the fluorescence characteristics of foreign objects on the inner wall of the pipeline, thus failing to accurately distinguish the types of foreign objects; 5. Existing detection methods lack systematic standards for foreign object location and cleanliness assessment, relying solely on subjective human judgment, lacking data-driven and standardized acceptance criteria. Summary of the Invention
[0004] To address the aforementioned problems, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a non-invasive cleanliness inspection device for lithium battery production pipelines, comprising a vehicle body with four drive wheels on the bottom surface and horizontal guide wheels at the four corners of the upper surface. The interior of the vehicle body is divided into upper and lower parts by a horizontal partition. An ultraviolet emitter is installed in the upper part, and an ultraviolet lens is embedded in the front surface of the vehicle body, connected to the ultraviolet emitter. A detachable sealing cover is provided on the lower part of the vehicle body, on the same side as the ultraviolet lens. A motor is located on the left side inside, driving the drive wheels to rotate via a transmission rod. A battery and a data processing module are located on the right side. The battery is connected to a camera, and the sealing cover has an opening adapted to the camera.
[0005] Furthermore, both the drive wheels and guide wheels are covered with silicone cushioning pads on their outer sides. These silicone cushioning pads allow the vehicle body to flexibly conform to the inner wall of the pipeline, preventing the hard parts of the vehicle body from scratching the inner wall of the pipeline during the inspection process. This avoids secondary damage and contamination from the source during the inspection process, and is suitable for the non-invasive inspection requirements of newly laid pipelines.
[0006] Furthermore, a protective cover for the camera is installed on the opening of the sealing cover. The camera protective cover can prevent the small amount of water vapor and oil residue on the inner wall of the pipe from contaminating the camera lens, ensuring the clarity of image acquisition, and the detachable design facilitates subsequent cleaning and maintenance of the protective cover.
[0007] Furthermore, the data processing module includes a data control component, GPS, odometer, attitude sensor, and Bluetooth transmitter. The ultraviolet lens, camera, motor, battery, GPS, odometer, attitude sensor, and Bluetooth transmitter are all electrically connected to the control component.
[0008] Secondly, the present invention provides a non-invasive acceptance method for the cleanliness of lithium battery production pipelines, which uses the aforementioned device for acceptance and includes the following steps: 1. Device debugging and parameter preset before testing. 1) Based on the inner diameter specifications of the clean pipeline of the new lithium battery production line, the non-invasive acceptance device for the cleanliness of the lithium battery production pipeline is placed at the end of the pipeline to be tested. The drive wheel and guide wheel are flexibly attached to the inner wall of the pipeline through food-grade silicone buffer pads to ensure no rigid contact and avoid scratching the inner wall of the pipeline during the testing process. 2) Based on the type of pipeline to be inspected and the type of foreign matter that may remain, set the operating parameters of the ultraviolet emitter through the OPC controller; 3) Set the device's moving speed via the OPC controller and preset the acquisition parameters of the anti-fog high-definition fluorescent camera to ensure clear acquisition of fluorescent images of foreign objects; 4) The terminal control system is pre-set with a foreign matter fluorescence feature database, which includes the fluorescence features of common foreign matter such as metal shavings, welding residues, resin debris, and pipe rust. At the same time, the pipe cleanliness judgment standard is pre-set, which clarifies the acceptance / non-acceptance judgment criteria corresponding to the particle size and area of foreign matter. II. Deployment and Start-up of Detection Equipment 1) Place the debugged device into the inlet of the pipeline to be inspected, and seal the pipeline inlet to prevent external dust and impurities from entering the pipeline and affecting the test results; 2) The device moves at a constant speed along the pipeline axis under the drive of a stepper motor after the start command is sent through the terminal control system. When it encounters bends or diameter changes, it achieves adaptive steering through the wall-bumping and turning mechanism of the guide wheel to ensure no detection blind spots. III. Ultraviolet Fluorescence Excitation and Real-time Image Acquisition and Transmission 1) During the movement of the device, the ultraviolet emitter continuously emits ultraviolet light with set parameters. After being focused by the ultraviolet light lens, the light is evenly irradiated on the inner wall of the pipe. The tiny, transparent foreign matter remaining on the inner wall of the pipe is excited by the ultraviolet light and produces specific fluorescence. 2) The anti-fog high-definition fluorescent camera simultaneously captures real-time images of the inner wall of the pipe, collecting fluorescent images of foreign objects. The collected images are transmitted to the terminal control system in real time via Bluetooth transmitter, realizing visual monitoring of the detection process. IV. Fluorescence Image Data Processing and Foreign Object Identification 1) The terminal control system filters and reduces noise in the real-time received fluorescence images to remove image interference information and enhance the contrast of foreign object fluorescence features. 2) The processed image features can be magnified or reduced to identify the type of foreign objects on the inner wall of the pipe, and at the same time, key parameters such as particle size and area of the foreign objects can be quantified to achieve effective identification of tiny foreign objects with a particle size ≤0.1mm; V. Precise positioning of foreign objects and determination of cleanliness 1) The terminal control system combines intelligent control with GPS positioning, axial displacement data from the odometer, and radial angle data from the attitude sensor to spatially locate the identified foreign object and determine its axial position and radial angle within the pipe, with a positioning accuracy of ≤±5mm. 2) Based on the identified foreign object type, particle size, area and distribution, and in accordance with the pipeline cleanliness judgment standard, objectively and standardizedly judge the pipeline cleanliness and clarify the pipeline cleanliness acceptance result as qualified / unqualified. VI. Generation of test reports and retention of acceptance records 1) When the device moves to the pipeline outlet end and completes the full pipeline inspection, the terminal control system automatically generates a standardized pipeline cleaning acceptance inspection report. The report includes basic information of the pipeline to be inspected, inspection parameters, foreign object identification results, foreign object location information, and cleanliness judgment results. 2) All test data, including test reports, fluorescence images, and foreign object location data, will be stored and exported in a unified manner to form a complete acceptance record, which will facilitate subsequent traceability, re-inspection, and pipeline maintenance.
[0009] Specifically, in step one, the ultraviolet emitter is an LED light source with a wavelength adjusted to 365~405nm and a power adjusted to 10~50W, so that the ultraviolet light forms a uniformly dispersed beam after passing through the ultraviolet lens, which is suitable for the fluorescence excitation requirements of foreign objects on the inner wall of the pipe; the device moves at a speed of 0.1~1m / s, and the anti-fog high-definition fluorescence camera has a collection resolution of ≥1080P and a frame rate of ≥30fps.
[0010] Compared with existing technologies, the advantages of this invention are: 1) Scratch-resistant standardized operation: By setting the device to flexibly fit the inner wall of the pipe, the method ensures no rigid contact during the inspection process, completely avoiding scratching the inner wall of the new pipe, preventing secondary pollution, and making the operation replicable and standardized; 2) High detection accuracy: Developing a dedicated ultraviolet fluorescence excitation, image acquisition and recognition method to adapt to the detection needs of small / transparent foreign objects on the inner wall of the pipe, with a foreign object recognition rate of ≥99%, effectively identifying small foreign objects such as metal shavings and pipe rust with a particle size ≤0.1mm, solving the problem of high false negative rate in traditional detection; 3) Strong adaptability: Designing an adaptive mobile inspection process for complex pipe layouts with multiple bends and diameter changes, achieving blind-angle detection through a guide wheel turning mechanism, adapting to new lithium battery production lines with an inner diameter ≥70mm. 4) High acceptance efficiency: The detection process is automated, with automated movement, automated data collection, and automated identification and positioning. The detection efficiency is more than 10 times higher than that of manual acceptance, which greatly reduces labor costs and avoids errors caused by subjective human judgment. 5) Standardized and data-driven acceptance: A preset database of foreign matter fluorescence characteristics and cleanliness judgment standards are established to achieve accurate identification of foreign matter and objective judgment of cleanliness. Standardized test reports are automatically generated, forming complete acceptance data records, which facilitates subsequent traceability and pipeline maintenance. 6) High compatibility between device and method: This method is designed with a matching scratch-resistant ultraviolet fluorescence detection device. All operation steps and parameter settings are highly matched with the structure and performance of the device, giving full play to the technical advantages of the device and achieving a detection effect of 1+1>2. Attached Figure Description
[0011] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the non-invasive cleanliness acceptance device for lithium battery production pipelines according to the present invention. Figure 2 for Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the internal structure of the left side of the vehicle body; Figure 3 for Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the internal structure on the right side of the vehicle body; Figure 4 This is a diagram showing the working state of the non-invasive cleanliness acceptance device for lithium battery production pipelines according to the present invention within the pipeline.
[0012] The numbers are as follows: 1. Vehicle body, 2. Drive wheels, 3. Guide wheels, 4. Ultraviolet lens, 5. Sealing cover, 6. Camera, 7. Ultraviolet emitter, 8. Motor, 9. Battery, 10. Control components, 11. GPS, 12. Odometer, 13. Attitude sensor, 14. Bluetooth transmitter. Detailed Implementation
[0013] The present invention will be described below with reference to examples. These examples are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
[0014] like Figures 1-3 As shown, a non-invasive cleanliness inspection device for a lithium battery production pipeline includes a vehicle body 1. The bottom of the vehicle body 1 has four drive wheels 2, and the four corners of the upper surface of the vehicle body 1 have horizontal guide wheels 3. Each drive wheel 2 and guide wheel 3 is covered with a silicone cushioning pad. The interior of the vehicle body 1 is divided into upper and lower parts by a horizontal partition. An ultraviolet emitter 7 is installed in the upper part, and an ultraviolet lens 4 is embedded in the front face of the vehicle body 1, connected to the ultraviolet emitter 7. A removable sealing cover 5 is located on the lower part of the vehicle body 1, on the same side as the ultraviolet lens 4. A motor 8 is located on the left side inside, driving the drive wheels 2 to rotate via a transmission rod. A battery 9 and a data processing module are located on the right side. The battery 9 is connected to a camera 6. The sealing cover 5 has an opening adapted to the camera 6, and a protective cover for the camera 6 is installed on the opening. The data processing module includes a data control component 10, a GPS 11, an odometer 12, an attitude sensor 13, and a Bluetooth transmitter 14. The ultraviolet lens 4, camera 6, motor 8, battery 9, and GPS... 11. The odometer 12, attitude sensor 13, and Bluetooth transmitter 14 are all electrically connected to the control component 10.
[0015] Figure 4 This diagram illustrates the working state of the non-invasive cleanliness acceptance device for lithium battery production pipelines according to the present invention within the pipeline. It enables non-invasive acceptance of the cleanliness of lithium battery production pipelines, and the specific steps are as follows: I. Equipment debugging and parameter setting before testing 1) Based on the inner diameter specifications of the clean pipeline of the new lithium battery production line, the non-invasive acceptance device for the cleanliness of the lithium battery production pipeline is placed at the end of the pipeline to be tested. The drive wheel and guide wheel are flexibly attached to the inner wall of the pipeline through food-grade silicone buffer pads to ensure no rigid contact and avoid scratching the inner wall of the pipeline during the testing process. 2) Based on the type of pipeline to be inspected and the type of foreign matter that may remain, set the working parameters of the ultraviolet emitter through the OPC controller: the ultraviolet emitter is an LED light source, the wavelength is adjusted to 365~405nm, and the power is adjusted to 10~50W, so that the ultraviolet light forms a uniformly dispersed beam after passing through the ultraviolet lens, which is suitable for the fluorescence excitation requirements of foreign matter on the inner wall of the pipeline. 3) Set the device movement speed to 0.1~1m / s via the OPC controller, and preset the acquisition parameters of the anti-fog high-definition fluorescent camera: acquisition resolution ≥1080P, frame rate ≥30fps, to ensure clear acquisition of fluorescent images of foreign objects; 4) The terminal control system is pre-set with a foreign matter fluorescence feature database, which includes the fluorescence features of common foreign matter such as metal shavings, welding residues, resin debris, and pipe rust. At the same time, the pipe cleanliness judgment standard is pre-set, which clarifies the acceptance / non-acceptance judgment criteria corresponding to the particle size and area of foreign matter. II. Deployment and Start-up of Detection Equipment 1) Place the debugged device into the inlet of the pipeline to be inspected, and seal the pipeline inlet to prevent external dust and impurities from entering the pipeline and affecting the test results; 2) The device moves at a constant speed along the pipeline axis under the drive of a stepper motor after the start command is sent through the terminal control system. When it encounters bends or diameter changes, it achieves adaptive steering through the wall-bumping and turning mechanism of the guide wheel to ensure no detection blind spots. III. Ultraviolet Fluorescence Excitation and Real-time Image Acquisition and Transmission 1) During the movement of the device, the ultraviolet emitter continuously emits ultraviolet light with set parameters. After being focused by the ultraviolet light lens, the light is evenly irradiated on the inner wall of the pipe. The tiny, transparent foreign matter remaining on the inner wall of the pipe is excited by the ultraviolet light and produces specific fluorescence. 2) The anti-fog high-definition fluorescent camera simultaneously captures real-time images of the inner wall of the pipe, collecting fluorescent images of foreign objects. The collected images are transmitted to the terminal control system in real time via Bluetooth transmitter, realizing visual monitoring of the detection process. IV. Fluorescence Image Data Processing and Foreign Object Identification 1) The terminal control system filters and reduces noise in the real-time received fluorescence images to remove image interference information and enhance the contrast of foreign object fluorescence features. 2) The processed image features can be magnified or reduced to identify the type of foreign objects on the inner wall of the pipe, and at the same time, key parameters such as particle size and area of the foreign objects can be quantified to achieve effective identification of tiny foreign objects with a particle size ≤0.1mm; V. Precise positioning of foreign objects and determination of cleanliness 1) The terminal control system combines intelligent control with GPS positioning, axial displacement data from the odometer, and radial angle data from the attitude sensor to spatially locate the identified foreign object and determine its axial position and radial angle within the pipe, with a positioning accuracy of ≤±5mm. 2) Based on the identified foreign object type, particle size, area and distribution, and in accordance with the pipeline cleanliness judgment standard, objectively and standardizedly judge the pipeline cleanliness and clarify the pipeline cleanliness acceptance result as qualified / unqualified. VI. Generation of test reports and retention of acceptance records 1) When the device moves to the pipeline outlet end and completes the full pipeline inspection, the terminal control system automatically generates a standardized pipeline cleaning acceptance inspection report. The report includes basic information of the pipeline to be inspected, inspection parameters, foreign object identification results, foreign object location information, and cleanliness judgment results. 2) All test data, including test reports, fluorescence images, and foreign object location data, will be stored and exported in a unified manner to form a complete acceptance record, which will facilitate subsequent traceability, re-inspection, and pipeline maintenance.
[0016] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the protection scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. A non-invasive cleanliness inspection device for lithium battery production pipelines, characterized in that, The vehicle includes a body (1), with four drive wheels (2) on the bottom surface of the body (1) and horizontal guide wheels (3) at the four corners of the upper surface of the body (1). The interior of the body (1) is divided into upper and lower parts by a horizontal partition. An ultraviolet emitter (7) is installed in the upper part. An ultraviolet lens (4) is embedded on the front surface of the body (1). The ultraviolet lens (4) is connected to the ultraviolet emitter (7). A detachable sealing cover (5) is provided on the lower part of the body (1) on the same side as the ultraviolet lens (4). A motor (8) is provided on the left side inside the body, which drives the drive wheels (2) to rotate through a transmission rod. A battery (9) and a data processing module are provided on the right side. A camera (6) is connected to the battery (9). An opening adapted to the camera (6) is provided on the sealing cover (5).
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, The outer sides of both the drive wheel (2) and the guide wheel (3) are covered with silicone cushioning pads.
3. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that, The opening of the sealing cover (5) is provided with a protective cover for the camera (6).
4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The data processing module includes a data control component (10), a GPS (11), an odometer (12), an attitude sensor (13), and a Bluetooth transmitter (14). The ultraviolet lens (4), camera (6), motor (8), battery (9), GPS (11), odometer (12), attitude sensor (13), and Bluetooth transmitter (14) are all electrically connected to the control component (10).
5. A non-invasive method for cleanliness acceptance of lithium battery production pipelines, characterized in that, The acceptance procedure using the equipment described in claim 4 is as follows: I. Equipment debugging and parameter setting before testing 1) Based on the inner diameter specifications of the clean pipeline of the new lithium battery production line, the non-invasive acceptance device for the cleanliness of the lithium battery production pipeline is placed at the end of the pipeline to be tested. The drive wheel and guide wheel are flexibly attached to the inner wall of the pipeline through food-grade silicone buffer pads to ensure no rigid contact and avoid scratching the inner wall of the pipeline during the testing process. 2) Based on the type of pipeline to be inspected and the type of foreign matter that may remain, set the operating parameters of the ultraviolet emitter through the OPC controller; 3) Set the device's moving speed via the OPC controller and preset the acquisition parameters of the anti-fog high-definition fluorescent camera to ensure clear acquisition of fluorescent images of foreign objects; 4) The terminal control system is pre-set with a foreign matter fluorescence feature database, which includes the fluorescence features of common foreign matter such as metal shavings, welding residues, resin debris, and pipe rust. At the same time, the pipe cleanliness judgment standard is pre-set, which clarifies the acceptance / non-acceptance judgment criteria corresponding to the particle size and area of foreign matter. II. Deployment and Start-up of Detection Equipment 1) Place the debugged device into the inlet of the pipeline to be inspected, and seal the pipeline inlet to prevent external dust and impurities from entering the pipeline and affecting the test results; 2) The device moves at a constant speed along the pipeline axis under the drive of a stepper motor after the start command is sent through the terminal control system. When it encounters bends or diameter changes, it achieves adaptive steering through the wall-bumping and turning mechanism of the guide wheel to ensure no detection blind spots. III. Ultraviolet Fluorescence Excitation and Real-time Image Acquisition and Transmission 1) During the movement of the device, the ultraviolet emitter continuously emits ultraviolet light with set parameters. After being focused by the ultraviolet light lens, the light is evenly irradiated on the inner wall of the pipe. The tiny, transparent foreign matter remaining on the inner wall of the pipe is excited by the ultraviolet light and produces specific fluorescence. 2) The anti-fog high-definition fluorescent camera simultaneously captures real-time images of the inner wall of the pipe, collecting fluorescent images of foreign objects. The collected images are transmitted to the terminal control system in real time via Bluetooth transmitter, realizing visual monitoring of the detection process. IV. Fluorescence Image Data Processing and Foreign Object Identification 1) The terminal control system filters and reduces noise in the real-time received fluorescence images to remove image interference information and enhance the contrast of foreign object fluorescence features. 2) The processed image features can be magnified or reduced to identify the type of foreign objects on the inner wall of the pipe, and at the same time, key parameters such as particle size and area of the foreign objects can be quantified to achieve effective identification of tiny foreign objects with a particle size ≤0.1mm; V. Precise positioning of foreign objects and determination of cleanliness 1) The terminal control system combines intelligent control with GPS positioning, axial displacement data from the odometer, and radial angle data from the attitude sensor to spatially locate the identified foreign object and determine its axial position and radial angle within the pipe, with a positioning accuracy of ≤±5mm. 2) Based on the identified foreign object type, particle size, area and distribution, and in accordance with the pipeline cleanliness judgment standard, objectively and standardizedly judge the pipeline cleanliness and clarify the pipeline cleanliness acceptance result as qualified / unqualified. VI. Generation of test reports and retention of acceptance records 1) When the device moves to the pipeline outlet end and completes the full pipeline inspection, the terminal control system automatically generates a standardized pipeline cleaning acceptance inspection report. The report includes basic information of the pipeline to be inspected, inspection parameters, foreign object identification results, foreign object location information, and cleanliness judgment results. 2) All test data, including test reports, fluorescence images, and foreign object location data, will be stored and exported in a unified manner to form a complete acceptance record, which will facilitate subsequent traceability, re-inspection, and pipeline maintenance.
6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, In step one, the ultraviolet emitter is an LED light source with the wavelength adjusted to 365~405nm and the power adjusted to 10~50W, so that the ultraviolet light forms a uniformly dispersed beam after passing through the ultraviolet lens, which is suitable for the fluorescence excitation requirements of foreign objects on the inner wall of the pipe.
7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, In step one, the device moves at a speed of 0.1~1m / s, and the anti-fog high-definition fluorescent camera has a capture resolution of ≥1080P and a frame rate of ≥30fps.