Tab smoothing mechanism and pre-welding testing device

Abstract

The utility model discloses a tab flattening mechanism and a pre-welding testing device, and belongs to the technical field of lithium battery production, the tab flattening mechanism comprises a rack, a conveying assembly and a flattening assembly; the rack is used for supporting the conveying assembly and the smoothing assembly. The conveying assembly is used for driving the battery cell to move in the first direction, and the first direction is the conveying direction of the conveying assembly; the flattening assembly is located on one side of the conveying assembly in the second direction and used for flattening the tabs of the battery cells on the conveying assembly, and the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction; the flattening assembly comprises a flattening block and a ventilation pipe, the interior of the flattening block is hollow to form an air cavity, the ventilation pipe is communicated with the air cavity to supply air to the air cavity, a plurality of air holes communicated with the air cavity are formed in the flattening block, and the air holes are used for providing positive pressure or negative pressure for the tabs of the battery cells. The pre-welding testing device comprises the tab flattening mechanism. And under the action of gas pressure, the bent tab can be smoothed, so that unnecessary scrapping of the battery cell caused by incomplete pre-welding is prevented, and the yield is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of lithium battery production, in particular to a tab smoothing mechanism and a pre-welding testing device. Background Art

[0002] Lithium-ion batteries are widely used due to their advantages such as light weight, compact size, high capacity, and fast charging speed. The conventional manufacturing process for soft-pack batteries can be divided into batching, coating, rolling, slitting, die-cutting, lamination, welding, packaging, liquid filling / sealing, formation, aging, secondary sealing, capacity grading, and sorting and warehousing.

[0003] Ultrasonic welding is a common welding method used to weld the foil tabs, which are made of multiple layers of foil, together. Because the foil is thin, the tabs can easily bend downward or upward during the incoming material processing before pre-welding. This can cause the subsequent pre-welding process to be incomplete, resulting in the last tab being unwelded, causing the battery cell to be scrapped and affecting the welding yield. Utility Model Content

[0004] The purpose of the utility model is to provide a tab smoothing mechanism and a pre-welding testing device to solve the technical problem in the prior art that the foil tab bends downward or upward, resulting in low welding yield.

[0005] As conceived above, the technical solution adopted by the present utility model is:

[0006] A tab smoothing mechanism comprises a frame, a conveying assembly, and a smoothing assembly; the frame is used to support the conveying assembly and the smoothing assembly; the conveying assembly is arranged on the frame, and the conveying assembly is used to drive the battery cell to move along a first direction, the first direction being the conveying direction of the conveying assembly; the smoothing assembly is arranged on the frame and is located on one side of the conveying assembly in a second direction, and is used to smooth the tab of the battery cell on the conveying assembly, the second direction being perpendicular to the first direction;

[0007] The smoothing assembly includes a smoothing block and a vent pipe. The interior of the smoothing block is hollow to form an air cavity. The vent pipe is connected to the air cavity to supply air to the air cavity. The smoothing block is provided with a plurality of air holes connected to the air cavity. The air holes are used to provide positive pressure or negative pressure to the tabs of the battery cell.

[0008] Preferably, the air holes are used to provide positive pressure to the tabs of the battery cell, and a plurality of the air holes are provided along the first direction and the second direction and are distributed in an array.

[0009] Preferably, the smoothing block is provided with a first area and a second area, the pores are distributed in the first area and the second area, the first area corresponds to one of the tabs of the battery cell, and the second area corresponds to the other tab of the battery cell;

[0010] Alternatively, the smoothing assembly includes two smoothing blocks, each of which corresponds to one of the tabs of the battery cell.

[0011] Preferably, a throttle valve is provided on the vent pipe, and the throttle valve is used to adjust the air flow rate of the vent pipe, and the gas pressure of the air hole gradually increases along the second direction away from the conveying component.

[0012] Preferably, along the first direction, at least one end of the smoothing block is provided with a vent, and the vent pipe is connected to the vent.

[0013] Preferably, the smoothing assembly further comprises a smoothing block driving unit, wherein the smoothing block driving unit is connected to the smoothing block to drive the smoothing block to move;

[0014] The smoothing block driving unit drives the smoothing block to move along a third direction so that a top surface of the smoothing block can be flush with a top surface of the conveyor belt of the conveyor assembly, and the third direction is perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction;

[0015] Alternatively, the smoothing block driving unit drives the smoothing block to move along the first direction or the second direction so that the air hole can face the tab of the battery cell in a third direction, and the third direction is perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction.

[0016] Preferably, the smoothing assembly further includes a slide rod and a first slide rod driving unit, wherein the first slide rod driving unit is connected to the slide rod to drive the slide rod to approach or move away from the conveying assembly along the second direction, and when the slide rod moves away from the conveying assembly, it slides along the surface of the tab to smooth the tab.

[0017] Preferably, the smoothing assembly further includes a second slide rod driving unit, which is connected to the first slide rod driving unit to drive the slide rod to move along the third direction, so that the slide rod can move to both sides of the tab in the third direction.

[0018] Preferably, a shifting assembly is further included, which is arranged on the frame and located on the side of the conveying assembly away from the smoothing assembly in the second direction. The shifting assembly includes a push block and a push block driving part. The push block driving part is connected to the push block to drive the push block to push the battery cell to move along the second direction, so that the tab is aligned with the smoothing block in the third direction.

[0019] A pre-welding testing device includes the above-mentioned tab smoothing mechanism, and further includes:

[0020] A testing mechanism is connected to the frame and is arranged opposite to the smoothing assembly in the third direction. The testing mechanism includes a probe and a probe driving unit. The probe driving unit is connected to the probe to drive the probe to move to contact the tab of the battery cell.

[0021] Beneficial effects of the utility model:

[0022] The tab smoothing mechanism proposed in the utility model has a conveying assembly that drives the battery cell to be transported along a first direction. The air holes provided on the smoothing block are used to provide positive or negative pressure to the tabs of the battery cell. Under the action of the gas pressure, the tabs that are bent downward or upward are deformed upward or downward to achieve the purpose of smoothing the tabs, thereby preventing unnecessary scrapping of the battery cell due to incomplete pre-welding, improving the yield rate, and achieving cost reduction and efficiency improvement. The interior of the smoothing block is hollow to form an air cavity, and the ventilation pipe supplies air to the air cavity. The gas in the air cavity flows to multiple air holes. The structural setting of the smoothing block does not require a large number of ventilation pipes to achieve large-area blowing, reducing the number of components and simplifying the structure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 It is a structural diagram of a pre-welding test device provided by an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0024] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of a smoothing assembly provided by an embodiment of the utility model;

[0025] Figure 3 It is a partial structural cross-sectional view of the smoothing component provided in an embodiment of the present utility model.

[0026] In the picture:

[0027] 110, rack;

[0028] 120. Conveyor assembly; 121. Conveyor belt; 122. Conveyor roller; 123. Conveyor motor;

[0029] 130. Smoothing assembly; 131. Smoothing block; 1311. Air hole; 1312. First air cavity; 1313. Second air cavity; 132. Ventilation pipe; 133. Throttle valve; 134. Smoothing block drive unit; 135. Sliding rod; 136. First sliding rod drive unit;

[0030] 140. Shift assembly; 141. Push block; 142. Push block driving unit;

[0031] 200 , testing mechanism; 210 , probe; 220 , probe driving unit; 230 , pressing platform; 231 , mounting hole. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The following describes in detail embodiments of the present invention. Examples of the embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals throughout represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are intended to explain the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0033] In the description of this utility model, unless otherwise specified or limited, the terms "connected," "connect," and "fixed" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, they can refer to fixed connection, detachable connection, or integration; mechanical connection or electrical connection; direct connection or indirect connection through an intermediate medium; internal communication between two components or interaction between two components. Those skilled in the art will understand the specific meanings of the above terms in this utility model based on the specific circumstances.

[0034] In the present invention, unless otherwise expressly specified or limited, a first feature being "above" or "below" a second feature may include the first and second features being in direct contact, or may include the first and second features being in contact not directly but through another feature between them. Moreover, a first feature being "above," "above," and "above" a second feature may include the first feature being directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or may simply mean that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. A first feature being "below," "below," and "below" a second feature may include the first feature being directly below or obliquely below the second feature, or may simply mean that the first feature is lower in level than the second feature.

[0035] The technical solution of the present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and through specific implementation methods.

[0036] See also Figures 1 to 3 An embodiment of the utility model provides a pre-welding test device, including a tab smoothing mechanism and a testing mechanism 200. The tab smoothing mechanism is used to smooth the tabs on the battery cell, and the testing mechanism 200 is used to perform a short-circuit test on the tabs.

[0037] The tab smoothing mechanism includes a frame 110, a conveyor assembly 120, and a smoothing assembly 130. Frame 110 is used to support conveyor assembly 120 and smoothing assembly 130. The specific structure of frame 110 can be configured according to actual needs, as long as it can provide support. For example, frame 110 includes a support plate and legs, with the legs disposed at the bottom of the support plate. The support plate extends generally along a first plane, which can be horizontal or at an angle to the horizontal.

[0038] The conveying assembly 120 is disposed on the frame 110 and is used to drive the battery cells to move along a first direction. The first direction is the transmission direction of the conveying assembly 120. Figure 1 The smoothing component 130 is provided on the frame 110 and is located on one side of the conveying component 120 in the second direction, and is used to smooth the tabs of the battery cells on the conveying component 120. The second direction is perpendicular to the first direction, as shown in FIG. Figure 1 The Y-axis direction is shown.

[0039] Optionally, the conveying assembly 120 includes a conveyor belt 121, a conveyor roller 122 and a conveyor motor 123. At least two conveyor rollers 122 are provided and are rotatably connected to the frame 110. The conveyor belt 121 is wound around the conveyor rollers 122. The conveyor motor 123 drives the conveyor rollers 122 to rotate to drive the conveyor belt 121 to convey along the X-axis direction.

[0040] In this embodiment, four conveyor rollers 122 are provided, and the conveyor belt 121 is wound around the four conveyor rollers 122 in a quadrilateral configuration. A conveyor motor 123 drives one of the conveyor rollers 122 to rotate. This conveyor roller 122 is the active roller, and the remaining conveyor rollers 122 are driven rollers. The conveyor rollers 122 can be connected to the frame 110 via bearings. A speed reduction mechanism can be provided between the conveyor motor 123 and the conveyor rollers 122.

[0041] The battery cells are placed on the top surface of the conveyor belt 121. For the battery cells, one end of the tab is connected to the battery cell body, and the other end of the tab extends away from the battery cell body. When the tab is not bent, it is parallel to the top surface of the conveyor belt 121. Both the first direction and the second direction are parallel to the top surface of the conveyor belt 121. For bent tabs, in order to facilitate smoothing, the tab protrudes from the conveyor belt 121 along the second direction. The tab can be in a state of protruding from the conveyor belt 121 during the conveying process, or it can be pushed when the battery cell reaches the position to be smoothed.

[0042] An antistatic film is applied on the surface of the conveyor belt 121 , and the battery cells are placed on the antistatic film. The antistatic film has the advantages of being easy to clean and antistatic.

[0043] The smoothing assembly 130 includes a smoothing block 131 and a vent pipe 132. The interior of the smoothing block 131 is hollow to form an air cavity. The vent pipe 132 is connected to the air cavity to supply air to the air cavity. The smoothing block 131 is provided with a plurality of air holes 1311 connected to the air cavity. The air holes 1311 are used to provide positive pressure or negative pressure to the tabs of the battery cell. Under the action of gas pressure, the tabs bent downward or upward are deformed upward or downward to achieve the purpose of smoothing the tabs, prevent unnecessary scrapping of the battery cell caused by incomplete pre-welding, improve the yield rate, and achieve cost reduction and efficiency improvement. The interior of the smoothing block 131 is hollow to form an air cavity. The vent pipe 132 supplies air to the air cavity. The gas in the air cavity flows to the plurality of air holes 1311. The structural setting of the smoothing block 131 does not require a large number of vent pipes 132 to achieve large-area blowing, reduces the number of components, and simplifies the structure.

[0044] The air holes 1311 provide positive pressure to the tabs of the battery cell, that is, the air holes 1311 blow air outward, and the air holes 1311 provide negative pressure to the tabs of the battery cell, that is, the air holes 1311 draw air inward. In some embodiments, the smoothing block 131 is located above the tabs, and the openings of the air holes 1311 face downward. When the tabs bend upward, the air holes 1311 provide positive pressure to the tabs, that is, the air holes 1311 blow air downward. In some embodiments, the smoothing block 131 is located above the tabs, and the openings of the air holes 1311 face downward. When the tabs bend downward, the air holes 1311 provide negative pressure to the tabs, that is, the air holes 1311 draw air upward.

[0045] In the pre-welding test device, the test mechanism 200 is connected to the frame 110 and is arranged opposite to the smoothing assembly 130 in the third direction. The test mechanism 200 is arranged above the battery cell. In order to avoid interference between the smoothing assembly 130 and the test mechanism 200, the smoothing assembly 130 can be arranged below the battery cell. The third direction is perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction. Figure 1 The Z-axis direction is shown.

[0046] In this embodiment, the smoothing block 131 is located below the tab, and the air hole 1311 is provided on the top surface of the smoothing block 131, i.e., the air hole 1311 opens upward. The air hole 1311 is used to provide positive pressure to the tab, i.e., the air hole 1311 blows air upward to smooth the tab that is bent downward. In other embodiments, the air hole 1311 is used to provide negative pressure to the tab, i.e., the air hole 1311 draws air downward to smooth the tab that is bent upward.

[0047] Multiple air holes 1311 are arranged in an array along the X- and Y-axes to ensure a large air outlet area. In this embodiment, only one smoothing block 131 is provided, and to accommodate different battery cell models, the entire top surface of the smoothing block 131 is perforated. The spacing between tabs varies across different battery cell models. The length of the smoothing block 131 along the X-axis is greater than the spacing between the two tabs with the largest spacing, thus meeting the smoothing requirements for tabs of varying spacing.

[0048] When the air holes 1311 provide positive pressure to the tab, in order to avoid wasting the gas blown out of some of the air holes 1311, each air hole 1311 can be set to supply air separately. When in use, the air holes 1311 facing the tab are blown with air, and the other air holes 1311 are not blown with air, for example, they can be sealed.

[0049] In some embodiments, the smoothing block 131 is provided with a first region and a second region, with air holes 1311 distributed in the first and second regions. The first region corresponds to one tab of the battery cell, and the second region corresponds to the other tab of the battery cell. For any battery cell model, the tab does not extend beyond the first or second region. Therefore, there is no need to provide air holes 1311 between the first and second regions. This makes the placement of air holes 1311 more targeted and avoids gas waste.

[0050] In some embodiments, the smoothing assembly 130 includes two smoothing blocks 131, each corresponding to a tab on a battery cell. For any battery cell model, during smoothing, the tab will not extend beyond the area where the corresponding smoothing block 131 is located. This allows for more targeted placement of the air holes 1311 and avoids gas waste. Multiple air holes 1311 can be arranged in an array on each smoothing block 131.

[0051] Since the air holes 1311 are arranged in an array, there are at least two rows of air holes 1311 along the Y-axis. The ventilation tube 132 is used to ventilate the air cavity. One or more ventilation tubes 132 can be provided. The air cavity can be a single cavity or at least two cavities separated from each other.

[0052] In this embodiment, along the Y-axis direction, the air holes 1311 are arranged in two rows, and each air hole 1311 shares a vent pipe 132, that is, two adjacent air holes 1311 are not connected to each other. Figure 3 As shown, the air cavity includes a first air cavity 1312 and a second air cavity 1313 separated from each other. A plurality of air holes 1311 are spaced apart along the X-axis corresponding to the first air cavity 1312, and a plurality of air holes 1311 are spaced apart along the X-axis corresponding to the second air cavity 1313. A ventilation tube 132 is provided corresponding to the first air cavity 1312, and another ventilation tube 132 is provided corresponding to the second air cavity 1313.

[0053] A throttle valve 133 is provided on the vent tube 132 to regulate the airflow through the vent tube 132. The gas pressure in the air holes 1311 gradually increases along the Y-axis away from the conveying assembly 120. For a battery cell, one end of the tab is connected to the cell body, while the other end extends away from the cell body. For curved tabs, the further away from the cell body the tab is, the greater the curvature. Therefore, by regulating the airflow through the air holes 1311, a higher air pressure is provided to the tab away from the cell body, making it easier to smooth the bent tab.

[0054] The vent tube 132 can be provided at the side, end and bottom of the smoothing block 131, and there is no limitation here, as long as it can supply air to the air cavity. For example, along the X-axis direction, at least one end of the smoothing block 131 is provided with a vent, and the vent tube 132 is connected to the vent. By providing the vent tube 132 at one end of the smoothing block 131, the number of vent tubes 132 is reduced. Compared with connecting the vent tube 132 at the bottom of each air hole 1311, the number of vent tubes 132 is reduced, the waste of consumables is reduced, and costs are saved. There is no need to occupy the front space of the smoothing block 131, which avoids interference with other components and does not affect the aesthetic effect of the overall structure.

[0055] The smoothing assembly 130 also includes a smoothing block driver 134, which is connected to the smoothing block 131 to drive the smoothing block 131 to move. In some embodiments, the smoothing block driver 134 drives the smoothing block 131 to move along the Z-axis so that the top surface of the smoothing block 131 is flush with the top surface of the conveyor belt 121 of the conveyor assembly 120. In some embodiments, the smoothing block driver 134 drives the smoothing block 131 to move along the X-axis or Y-axis so that the air hole 1311 is aligned with the battery cell tab in the Z-axis direction. The smoothing block driver 134 can be a pneumatic cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, or a screw structure.

[0056] In some embodiments, the smoothing block driver 134 can not only drive the smoothing block 131 to move along the Z axis, but also drive the smoothing block 131 to move along the X axis or the Y axis, so that the air hole 1311 can face the tab. The smoothing block driver 134 can be a structure composed of multiple cylinders.

[0057] The smoothing assembly 130 also includes a slide bar 135 and a first slide bar driver 136. The first slide bar driver 136 is connected to the slide bar 135 to drive the slide bar 135 toward or away from the conveying assembly 120 along the Y-axis. When the slide bar 135 moves away from the conveying assembly 120, it slides along the surface of the tab to smooth the tab. When smoothing the tab, the slide bar 135 first moves to a first position close to the conveying assembly 120, and then moves along the Y-axis from the first position to a second position away from the conveying assembly 120. During the movement from the first position to the second position, the slide bar 135 slides along the surface of the tab to smooth the tab. The first slide bar driver 136 can be a pneumatic cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, or a screw structure.

[0058] In some embodiments, a single slide bar 135 is provided, and its length along the X-axis is greater than the distance between the two tabs with the largest spacing, thereby meeting the need to smooth tabs with different spacings. In some embodiments, two slide bars 135 are provided, one for each tab, and the two slide bars 135 move synchronously and can share the first slide bar driving unit 136.

[0059] The slide rod 135 may be a cylindrical rod or a flat rod. The slide rod 135 may have a certain width along the Y-axis direction to increase the contact area between the slide rod 135 and the tab and enhance the smoothing effect.

[0060] The smoothing assembly 130 further includes a second slide bar driving unit, which is connected to the first slide bar driving unit 136 to drive the slide bar 135 to move along the Z-axis direction, so that the slide bar 135 can move to both sides of the tab in the Z-axis direction. In some embodiments, when the tab bends upward, the slide bar 135 can move along the Z-axis direction to above the tab, then move along the Y-axis direction to approach the conveying assembly 120, then move along the Z-axis direction to contact the tab, and then move away from the conveying assembly 120 along the Y-axis direction. During the process of moving away from the conveying assembly 120, the slide bar 135 slides along the surface of the tab to smooth the tab. In some embodiments, when the tab bends downward, the slide bar 135 can move along the Z-axis direction to below the tab, then move along the Y-axis direction to approach the conveying assembly 120, then move along the Z-axis direction to contact the tab, and then move away from the conveying assembly 120 along the Y-axis direction. During the process of moving away from the conveying assembly 120, the slide bar 135 slides along the surface of the tab to smooth the tab.

[0061] Optionally, the first slide bar driving unit 136 is a first pneumatic cylinder, and the second slide bar driving unit is a second pneumatic cylinder. The telescopic rod of the first cylinder is connected to the slide bar 135, and the telescopic rod of the second cylinder is connected to the cylinder body of the first cylinder. Alternatively, the first cylinder is mounted on the first mounting plate, and the telescopic rod of the second cylinder is connected to the first mounting plate. The first cylinder drives the slide bar 135 to move along the Y-axis, and the second cylinder drives the first cylinder to move along the Z-axis, which is equivalent to driving the slide bar 135 to slide along the Z-axis.

[0062] The tab smoothing mechanism also includes a shift assembly 140, which is disposed on the frame 110 and located on the side of the conveying assembly 120 in the Y-axis direction away from the smoothing assembly 130. The shift assembly 140 includes a push block 141 and a push block driver 142. The push block driver 142 is connected to the push block 141 to drive the push block 141 to move the battery cell along the Y-axis direction so that the tab is aligned with the smoothing block 131 in the Z-axis direction. The push block driver 142 can be a cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, or a screw structure.

[0063] Take the example of smoothing the downward-bent tab. The conveying assembly 120 drives the battery cell to move along the X-axis direction. When the battery cell reaches the set position, the conveying assembly 120 stops conveying. The slide bar 135 moves to a first position close to the conveying assembly 120. The push block driving unit 142 drives the push block 141 to push the battery cell to move along the Y-axis direction so that the tab is aligned with the smoothing block 131 in the Z-axis direction. At this time, the smoothing block 131 is located below the tab. The slide bar 135 moves along the Y-axis direction from the first position to the second position away from the conveying assembly 120, and the smoothing block driving unit 134 drives the smoothing block 131 to move upward along the Z-axis direction. The slide bar 135 and the smoothing block 131 can move simultaneously or successively, as long as the interference between the slide bar 135 and the smoothing block 131 can be avoided.

[0064] As the slide bar 135 moves from the first position to the second position, it slides along the surface of the tab to smooth the tab. The smoothing block 131 moves along the Z-axis until the top surface of the smoothing block 131 is flush with the top surface of the conveyor belt 121. The air holes 1311 may start blowing air at the moment the smoothing block 131 moves, or at any time during the movement of the smoothing block 131, or after the smoothing block 131 moves until the top surface of the smoothing block 131 is flush with the top surface of the conveyor belt 121.

[0065] Take the example of smoothing the upward bent tab. The conveying assembly 120 drives the battery cell to move along the X-axis direction. When the battery cell reaches the set position, the conveying assembly 120 stops conveying. The push block driving unit 142 drives the push block 141 to push the battery cell to move along the Y-axis direction so that the tab is aligned with the smoothing block 131 in the Z-axis direction. At this time, the smoothing block 131 is located below the tab. The slide bar 135 moves along the Z-axis direction to the top of the tab, then moves along the Y-axis direction to approach the conveying assembly 120, then moves along the Z-axis direction until it contacts the tab, and then moves away from the conveying assembly 120 along the Y-axis direction. In the process of moving away from the conveying assembly 120, the slide bar 135 slides along the surface of the tab to smooth the tab. The smoothing block driving unit 134 drives the smoothing block 131 to move upward along the Z-axis until the top surface of the smoothing block 131 is flush with the top surface of the conveyor belt 121. The air holes 1311 may start blowing air at the moment the smoothing block 131 moves, or at any time during the movement of the smoothing block 131, or after the smoothing block 131 moves until the top surface of the smoothing block 131 is flush with the top surface of the conveyor belt 121. The slide bar 135 and the smoothing block 131 may move simultaneously or sequentially.

[0066] Whether the tab to be smoothed is bent upward or downward, the camera assembly can capture the tab image and then control the movement of the slide bar 135 and the smoothing block 131.

[0067] The test mechanism 200 includes a probe 210 and a probe driver 220. The probe driver 220 is connected to the probe 210 to drive the probe 210 into contact with the battery cell's tab. After the tab is smoothed, the probe driver 220 drives the probe 210 to abut the upper side of the tab, and the lower side of the tab abuts the smoothing block 131, thereby tightening the tab and facilitating short-circuit testing.

[0068] The test mechanism 200 also includes a pressing platform 230, on which the probe 210 is mounted. The probe driving unit 220 is used to drive the pressing platform 230. The pressing platform 230 is provided with a plurality of mounting holes 231, to which the probe 210 is connected via locking members. The plurality of mounting holes 231 facilitates adjustment of the position of the probe 210 on the mounting platform to accommodate tabs of varying spacing.

[0069] In some embodiments, the probe drive unit 220 drives the probe 210 to move along the Z-axis, so that the probe 210 is pressed down to contact the tab. In some embodiments, the probe drive unit 220 can drive the probe 210 to move along the Z-axis, as well as along the X-axis or Y-axis. The probe drive unit 220 can be a structure composed of multiple cylinders.

[0070] The tab smoothing mechanism described above can be used independently. Tabs are typically foil tabs, allowing for smoothing of multi-layered foil tabs. The tab smoothing mechanism can be integrated into a battery production line. It can also be integrated into a pre-weld testing device to smooth the tabs prior to short-circuit testing. The pre-weld testing device can be a pre-weld cold-press internal resistance tester or a polarity CCD detector, as long as it can smooth the tabs prior to welding.

[0071] The above embodiments merely illustrate the basic principles and features of the present invention. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various changes and modifications are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Such changes and modifications are within the scope of the present invention. The scope of protection claimed in the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A tab smoothing mechanism, characterized in that: It comprises a frame (110), a conveying assembly (120) and a smoothing assembly (130); The frame (110) is used to support the conveying assembly (120) and the smoothing assembly (130); The conveying assembly (120) is arranged on the frame (110), and the conveying assembly (120) is used to drive the battery cell to move along a first direction, wherein the first direction is a transmission direction of the conveying assembly (120); The smoothing component (130) is arranged on the frame (110) and is located on one side of the conveying component (120) in a second direction, and is used to smooth the tabs of the battery cells on the conveying component (120), wherein the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction; The smoothing assembly (130) includes a smoothing block (131) and a vent pipe (132). The interior of the smoothing block (131) is hollow to form an air cavity. The vent pipe (132) is connected to the air cavity to supply air to the air cavity. The smoothing block (131) is provided with a plurality of air holes (1311) connected to the air cavity. The air holes (1311) are used to provide positive pressure or negative pressure to the tabs of the battery cell.

2. The tab smoothing mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The air holes (1311) are used to provide positive pressure to the tabs of the battery cell. Along the first direction and the second direction, a plurality of the air holes (1311) are provided and distributed in an array.

3. The tab smoothing mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The smoothing block (131) is provided with a first area and a second area, the air holes (1311) are distributed in the first area and the second area, the first area corresponds to one of the tabs of the battery cell, and the second area corresponds to the other tab of the battery cell; Alternatively, the smoothing assembly (130) includes two smoothing blocks (131), and each smoothing block (131) corresponds to one of the tabs of the battery cell.

4. The tab smoothing mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: The vent pipe (132) is provided with a throttle valve (133), and the throttle valve (133) is used to adjust the air flow of the vent pipe (132). In the second direction away from the conveying component (120), the gas pressure of the air hole (1311) gradually increases.

5. The tab smoothing mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: Along the first direction, at least one end of the smoothing block (131) is provided with a vent, and the vent pipe (132) is in communication with the vent.

6. The tab smoothing mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The smoothing assembly (130) further includes a smoothing block driving unit (134), wherein the smoothing block driving unit (134) is connected to the smoothing block (131) to drive the smoothing block (131) to move; The smoothing block driving unit (134) drives the smoothing block (131) to move along a third direction so that the top surface of the smoothing block (131) can be flush with the top surface of the conveyor belt (121) of the conveying assembly (120), and the third direction is perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction; Alternatively, the smoothing block driving unit (134) drives the smoothing block (131) to move along the first direction or the second direction, so that in a third direction, the air hole (1311) can face the tab of the battery cell, and the third direction is perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction.

7. The tab smoothing mechanism according to claim 6, characterized in that: The smoothing assembly (130) further includes a slide bar (135) and a first slide bar driving unit (136), wherein the first slide bar driving unit (136) is connected to the slide bar (135) to drive the slide bar (135) to approach or move away from the conveying assembly (120) along the second direction, and when the slide bar (135) moves away from the conveying assembly (120), it slides along the surface of the tab to smooth the tab.

8. The tab smoothing mechanism according to claim 7, characterized in that: The smoothing assembly (130) further includes a second slide rod driving unit, which is connected to the first slide rod driving unit (136) to drive the slide rod (135) to move along the third direction, so that the slide rod (135) can move to both sides of the tab in the third direction.

9. The tab smoothing mechanism according to claim 6, characterized in that: The invention also includes a shifting assembly (140), which is arranged on the frame (110) and is located on the side of the conveying assembly (120) away from the smoothing assembly (130) in the second direction. The shifting assembly (140) includes a push block (141) and a push block driving unit (142). The push block driving unit (142) is connected to the push block (141) to drive the push block (141) to push the battery cell to move along the second direction, so that the tab is aligned with the smoothing block (131) in the third direction.

10. A pre-welding test device, characterized in that: The tab smoothing mechanism according to any one of claims 6 to 9 further comprises: A testing mechanism (200) is connected to the frame (110) and is arranged opposite to the smoothing assembly (130) in the third direction. The testing mechanism (200) includes a probe (210) and a probe driving unit (220). The probe driving unit (220) is connected to the probe (210) to drive the probe (210) to move to contact the tab of the battery cell.

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