Battery inspection device

Abstract

To accurately inspect the battery exterior of a secondary battery while shortening a cycle time.SOLUTION: A battery inspection device includes: a shape image generation unit 11 which generates a shape image of the outer packaging of a battery in which a predetermined region is included; a defect presence / absence determination unit 12 which determines the presence / absence of a defect in the outer packaging of the battery from the shape image generated by the shape image generation unit 11; a defect coordinate derivation unit 13 which derives the coordinates of the defect when the defect presence / absence determination unit 12 determines that the outer packaging of the battery has a defect; and a three-dimensional shape inspection unit 14 which measures the three-dimensional shape of the outer packaging of the battery in a region including the coordinates of the defect derived by the defect coordinate derivation unit 13 and narrower than the region of the outer packaging of the battery included in the shape image, and determines whether the outer packaging of the battery is good or bad from the obtained three-dimensional shape.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a battery testing device. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, secondary batteries have been widely used. Typically, a secondary battery includes a battery body and a battery case that protects the battery body. Since the manufacturing process of the battery case involves many processing steps, dents and distortions may occur on the side of the battery case during the manufacturing process.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses an appearance inspection device that measures the three-dimensional shape of a secondary battery by a light-section method and displays the measurement result as an image expressed in terms of grayscale differences. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2015-059817 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] If you want to improve the accuracy of three-dimensional measurement using the light-section method without changing the imaging element, you can narrow the field of view when photographing the object and enlarge part of the object. However, this increases the time required to measure the area of ​​the object, and there is a problem that the cycle time becomes longer when applied to the entire surface of a large battery case.

[0006] The present disclosure provides a battery inspection device that accurately inspects the exterior of a secondary battery while shortening the cycle time. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The battery inspection device disclosed herein is a battery inspection device that inspects the exterior of a battery, and includes a shape image generation unit that generates a shape image of the battery exterior that captures a specified area, a defect presence / absence determination unit that determines whether or not the battery exterior has a defect from the shape image generated by the shape image generation unit, a defect coordinate derivation unit that derives the coordinates of the defect when the defect presence / absence determination unit determines that the battery exterior has a defect, and a three-dimensional shape inspection unit that measures the three-dimensional shape of the battery exterior, including the coordinates of the defect derived by the defect coordinate derivation unit and in an area narrower than the area of ​​the battery exterior captured in the shape image, and determines whether the battery exterior is good or bad from the obtained three-dimensional shape. This makes it possible to measure and determine the three-dimensional shape of only those areas of the battery exterior that have been determined to have defects. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a battery inspection device that accurately inspects the exterior packaging of a secondary battery while shortening the cycle time. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a battery inspection device according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] 4 is an operation flowchart of the battery inspection device according to the first embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] First embodiment A battery inspection device according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a battery inspection device 1.

[0011] The battery inspection device 1 includes a shape image generating unit 11, a defect presence / absence determining unit 12, a defect coordinate deriving unit 13, a three-dimensional shape inspection unit 14, and a determination control unit 15. Here, the battery inspection device 1 will be described as a device that inspects the battery exterior of a secondary battery having a predetermined area.

[0012] The shape image generating unit 11 generates a shape image of the exterior of the battery to be inspected. The shape image generating unit 11 is provided with at least a camera, which captures a predetermined wide area of ​​the exterior of the battery from a position facing the surface of the exterior of the battery to be inspected. This allows the shape image generating unit 11 to generate a shape image in which a predetermined wide area of ​​the surface of the exterior of the battery to be inspected is captured in one image.

[0013] As an example, the shape image generating unit 11 can generate a shape image using a phase shift method that measures the shape of the object to be measured with high precision by projecting a sine wave stripe pattern onto the object to be measured multiple times and capturing the image with a camera.

[0014] The defect presence / absence determination unit 12 determines the presence or absence of defects in the shape image generated by the shape image generation unit 11. Here, the defects extracted by the defect presence / absence determination unit 12 are dents and distortions occurring on the exterior of the battery, and are candidates for locations that need to be re-inspected by the three-dimensional shape inspection unit 14.

[0015] The defect coordinate derivation unit 13 derives the coordinates of a defect when the defect presence / absence determination unit 12 determines that a defect exists. For example, the defect coordinate derivation unit 13 derives the coordinates of a defect on the shape image generated by the shape image generation unit 11. Note that, for example, the defect coordinate derivation unit 13 may derive the coordinates of a defect in a three-dimensional space for the exterior of a battery to be inspected that is set in the battery inspection apparatus 1.

[0016] The three-dimensional shape inspection unit 14 performs a detailed three-dimensional shape inspection on the defect coordinates derived by the defect coordinate derivation unit 13. Specifically, the three-dimensional shape inspection unit 14 performs a detailed three-dimensional shape measurement on the defect coordinates derived by the defect coordinate derivation unit 13 and a narrow range nearby the defect coordinates. Then, the three-dimensional shape inspection unit 14 judges the quality of the defect portion based on the information on the three-dimensional shape of the defect portion measured in detail.

[0017] As an example, the three-dimensional shape inspection unit 14 can perform inspection using a light cutting method. In this case, the three-dimensional shape inspection unit 14 includes an irradiation unit that irradiates a line-shaped laser onto the surface of the exterior of the battery to be inspected, an imaging unit that captures an image of the laser on the irradiated line at and near the coordinates of the defect derived by the defect coordinate derivation unit 13, and an evaluation unit that processes the captured laser image and evaluates the defect depending on whether or not the defect is within a predetermined standard.

[0018] In addition, when multiple defects are extracted by the defect presence / absence determination unit 12 and the coordinates of each defect are derived by the defect coordinate derivation unit 13, the three-dimensional shape inspection unit 14 can perform three-dimensional shape measurement at the location of each defect to determine whether the defect is good or bad.

[0019] The determination control unit 15 determines whether or not the entire exterior of the battery to be inspected has been inspected, and can control whether or not to continue the inspection process.

[0020] Next, a description will be given of an example of the operation of the battery inspection device 1. FIG.

[0021] First, the battery inspection device 1 performs a primary screening. Specifically, the shape image generating unit 11 generates a shape image of the exterior of the battery to be inspected (step S1). Here, the shape image generating unit 11 captures an image of a wide area of ​​the surface of the exterior of the battery to be photographed.

[0022] Specifically, the shape image generating unit 11 captures the exterior of the battery over a predetermined wide area to cover the entire exterior of the battery by capturing images several times while changing the capturing position, thereby generating a shape image.

[0023] The defect determination unit 12 determines whether or not there is a defect in the shape image generated by the shape image generation unit 11 (step S2). If the defect determination unit 12 determines that there is a defect in the exterior of the battery in the shape image (Yes in step S2), the process proceeds to step S3. On the other hand, if the defect determination unit 12 determines that there is no defect in the exterior of the battery in the shape image (No in step S2), the process proceeds to step S7.

[0024] The defect coordinate deriving section 13 derives the coordinates of a defect when the defect presence / absence determining section 12 determines that a defect exists (step S3).

[0025] Next, the battery inspection device 1 performs a secondary inspection. Specifically, the three-dimensional shape inspection unit 14 measures the three-dimensional shape of the defect coordinates derived by the defect coordinate derivation unit 13 (step S4). Typically, the three-dimensional shape inspection unit 14 measures the three-dimensional shape by using the derived defect coordinates and the vicinity of the defect as a measurement range. This allows the three-dimensional shape inspection unit 14 to perform detailed three-dimensional shape measurement in an area narrower than the area generated as a shape image by the shape image generation unit 11, and generate three-dimensional information.

[0026] The three-dimensional shape inspection unit 14 judges whether the defect location is within the standard range based on the generated coordinates of the defect and the three-dimensional information of its vicinity (step S5). If the three-dimensional shape inspection unit 14 judges that the defect is not within the standard range (No in step S5), it outputs a judgment that there is a problem with the exterior of the battery (step S6), and ends the inspection process.

[0027] On the other hand, if the three-dimensional shape inspection unit 14 determines that the defects are within the standard range (Yes in step S5), the process proceeds to step S7. In this process, if the defect presence / absence determination unit 12 determines that there are multiple defects in the shape image generated by the shape image generation unit 11, the process proceeds to step S7 if the three-dimensional shape inspection unit 14 determines that all of the multiple defects are within the standard range.

[0028] The determination control unit 15 determines whether or not the inspection is completed for all areas of the exterior of the battery to be inspected (step S7). If the determination control unit 15 determines that the operation is completed for all areas of the exterior of the battery (Yes in step S7), the determination is output that there is no problem with the exterior of the battery since there are no defects in all areas of the battery pack to be inspected or, even if there are defects, each defect is within the range of the standard, and the inspection process is terminated.

[0029] On the other hand, if the determination control unit 15 determines that inspection of all areas of the battery exterior has not been completed (No in step S7), the process returns to step S1 and continues inspection of areas that have not been inspected.

[0030] As a result of the above, it is possible to perform a primary screening over a wide area of ​​the battery exterior in a short period of time, and then perform a secondary inspection based on the three-dimensional shape.

[0031] That is, in the battery inspection device 1, as a first screening, defect detection is performed over a wide area of ​​the battery exterior using a phase shift method that is capable of high-speed processing although it is not possible to measure height information, and a detailed secondary inspection using three-dimensional measurement is performed on the detected defects. This makes it possible to perform a detailed inspection of defective locations while shortening the processing time compared to a case where a detailed secondary inspection using three-dimensional measurement is performed on the entire battery exterior. In other words, it is possible to accurately inspect the battery exterior while shortening the cycle time.

[0032] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In other words, the above description has been omitted or simplified as appropriate for the purpose of clarity, and a person skilled in the art can easily modify, add, or convert each element of the embodiment within the scope of the present invention.

[0033] For example, in the battery inspection device 1, the phase shift method is used in the first screening, and the light section method is used in the second inspection to measure the three-dimensional shape, but the present invention is not limited to this. In other words, the battery inspection device 1 only needs to be capable of performing a wide range of measurement on the exterior of the battery at high speed with enough accuracy to determine the presence or absence of defects in the first screening, and the second inspection only needs to be configured to inspect defective parts in more detail than in the first screening, and the measurement method can be changed as desired.

[0034] In the above, it has been described that when performing the first screening, the entire exterior of the battery is photographed over a wide area, divided into multiple locations. However, it is also possible to generate a single shape image by photographing the entire exterior of the battery. [Explanation of symbols]

[0035] 1 Battery inspection equipment 11 Shape image generation unit 12 Defect detection section 13 Defect coordinate derivation section 14 3D Shape Inspection Department 15 Judgment control section

Claims

[Claim 1] A battery inspection device for inspecting the exterior of a battery, a shape image generating unit that generates a shape image of the exterior of the battery in which a predetermined area is captured; a defect presence / absence determination unit that determines the presence or absence of a defect in the exterior of a battery from the shape image generated by the shape image generation unit; a defect coordinate deriving unit that derives coordinates of the defect when the defect presence / absence determining unit determines that the exterior of the battery has a defect; a three-dimensional shape inspection unit that measures a three-dimensional shape of the exterior of the battery in an area including the coordinates of the defect derived by the defect coordinate derivation unit and narrower than the area of ​​the exterior of the battery shown in the shape image, and judges whether the exterior of the battery is good or bad from the obtained three-dimensional shape. Battery inspection equipment.

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