Method for manufacturing non-aqueous electrolyte battery

Abstract

To provide a method for efficiently manufacturing a non-aqueous electrolyte battery.SOLUTION: A method for manufacturing non-aqueous electrolyte battery includes the steps of gripping a liquid inlet 15 of a battery case 11 with a gripping member 221, attaching a pressure reduction nozzle 222 connected to the gripping member 221 to the liquid inlet 15 of the battery case 11 gripped by the gripping member 221, reducing the pressure inside the battery case 11 with the pressure reduction nozzle 222 attached to the liquid inlet 15, and injecting electrolyte into the reduced pressure inside the battery case 11.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for producing a nonaqueous electrolyte battery. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, various methods for manufacturing a nonaqueous electrolyte battery in which an electrode body and an electrolyte are housed in a battery case have been proposed. For example, in the method described in Patent Document 1, a vacuum nozzle, which is a suction cup, is attached to each of the electrolyte filling ports of the battery case, and the moisture inside the battery case that has evaporated due to heating is removed by the vacuum nozzle. This allows the inside of the battery case to be suitably dried without using a vacuum furnace. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-185899 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the method described in Patent Document 1 has a problem in that high accuracy in positioning the liquid injection ports of the battery case and the pressure reducing nozzle is required in order to efficiently manufacture a nonaqueous electrolyte battery.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a nonaqueous electrolyte battery that can efficiently produce a nonaqueous electrolyte battery. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A method for manufacturing a nonaqueous electrolyte battery that solves the above problems includes the steps of gripping the liquid inlet of a battery case with a gripping member, attaching a pressure reducing nozzle connected to the gripping member to the liquid inlet of the battery case gripped by the gripping member, reducing the pressure inside the battery case with the pressure reducing nozzle attached to the liquid inlet, and injecting electrolyte into the reduced pressure inside the battery case. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, a nonaqueous electrolyte battery can be produced efficiently. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of a lithium ion secondary battery. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an electrolyte injection device. [Diagram 3] 1A to 1C are diagrams illustrating the operation of an electrolyte injection device. [Figure 4] 1A to 1C are diagrams illustrating the operation of an electrolyte injection device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, one embodiment of a method for producing a nonaqueous electrolyte battery will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0010] First, the configuration of a lithium ion secondary battery 10, which is an example of a nonaqueous electrolyte battery, will be described.

[0011] As shown in Fig. 1, a lithium-ion secondary battery 10 has an electrode assembly 12 and an electrolyte (not shown) accommodated in a battery case 11. The battery case 11 is made up of a case body 13 in the shape of a square cylinder with a bottom, and a rectangular flat lid 14 that closes an opening for inserting the electrode assembly 12 into the case body 13. The lid 14 has a liquid inlet 15 that protrudes upward from an upper surface of the lid 14. The liquid inlet 15 is sealed with a sealing member 16 to prevent leakage of gas and electrolyte from within the battery case 11. Both the case body 13 and the lid 14 are made of metal (for example, stainless steel or aluminum).

[0012] A positive electrode terminal 17 and a negative electrode terminal 18 are electrically connected to the electrode assembly 12. A ring-shaped insulating member 19 is attached to each of the positive electrode terminal 17 and the negative electrode terminal 18 to insulate them from the battery case 11. The positive electrode terminal 17 and the negative electrode terminal 18 are exposed to the outside of the battery case 11 through the lid 14. The electrode assembly 12 has a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator that insulates the positive electrode and the negative electrode. The positive electrode has a positive electrode active material layer on both sides of a positive electrode metal foil (aluminum foil). The negative electrode has a negative electrode active material layer on both sides of a negative electrode metal foil (copper foil).

[0013] The positive electrode active material layer is a porous layer in which positive electrode active material particles are fixed to each other by a resin binder. The negative electrode active material layer is a porous layer in which negative electrode active material particles are fixed to each other by a resin binder. The electrode assembly 12 has a laminated structure in which a plurality of positive electrodes and a plurality of negative electrodes are alternately stacked, with a separator interposed between the two electrodes. The separator is a porous resin sheet made of insulating resin that allows ions to move between the electrodes by being impregnated with an electrolyte.

[0014] Next, the configuration of an electrolyte injection device 100 used to inject an electrolyte into the lithium ion secondary battery 10 will be described with reference to the drawings. The electrolyte injection device 100 includes a plurality of injection units 200 connected to a guide rail 110. Each of the plurality of injection units 200 has a common configuration, and in FIG. 2, one injection unit 200 will be described as an example.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 2, the injection unit 200 of the electrolyte injection device 100 includes, for example, a guide mechanism 210 and a gripping mechanism 220.

[0016] The guide mechanism 210 is connected to the guide rail 110. The guide mechanism 210 is configured to be movable along the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 110 (the left-right direction in the example shown in FIG. 2).

[0017] The gripping mechanism 220 includes a gripping member 221 connected to the lower surface of the guide mechanism 210 , and a decompression nozzle 222 similarly connected to the lower surface of the guide mechanism 210 .

[0018] The gripping member 221 has a pair of arm members 221A, 221B. The gripping member 221 is configured to be switchable between a state in which the gripping member 221 grips the liquid inlet 15 of the lithium ion secondary battery 10 and a state in which the gripping member 221 is spaced apart from the liquid inlet 15 of the lithium ion secondary battery 10 by each of the pair of arm members 221A, 221B moving in a horizontal direction relative to the guide mechanism 210.

[0019] The decompression nozzle 222 is disposed between a pair of arm members 221A, 221B of the gripping member 221. The decompression nozzle 222 is connected to the guide mechanism 210 so as to be movable up and down between a position where it abuts against the liquid filling port 15 of the lithium ion secondary battery 10 and a position spaced apart from the liquid filling port 15 of the lithium ion secondary battery 10. The decompression nozzle 222 reduces the pressure inside the battery case 11 of the lithium ion secondary battery 10 while abutting against the liquid filling port 15 of the lithium ion secondary battery 10 to hermetically seal the inside of the battery case 11 of the lithium ion secondary battery 10.

[0020] Next, a method for manufacturing the lithium ion secondary battery 10 will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 3, when injecting an electrolyte into the battery case 11 of the lithium-ion secondary battery 10, the injection unit 200 of the electrolyte injection device 100 first positions the guide mechanism 210 vertically above the injection port 15 of the lithium-ion secondary battery 10 by moving the guide mechanism 210 along the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 110.

[0022] Next, the injection unit 200 of the electrolyte injection device 100 moves each of the pair of arm members 221A, 221B of the gripping member 221 in the horizontal direction relative to the guide mechanism 210, thereby gripping the injection port 15 of the lithium ion secondary battery 10 with the gripping member 221. As a result, the injection port 15 of the lithium ion secondary battery 10 and the decompression nozzle 222 are positioned to face each other.

[0023] Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the injection unit 200 of the electrolyte injection device 100 lowers the pressure reducing nozzle 222 relative to the guide mechanism 210 to a position where the pressure reducing nozzle 222 abuts against the injection port 15 of the lithium ion secondary battery 10.

[0024] Next, when the decompression of the inside of the battery case 11 of the lithium-ion secondary battery 10 is completed, the injection unit 200 of the electrolyte injection device 100 injects the electrolyte into the inside of the battery case 11 from the decompression nozzle 222. Then, based on the negative pressure accumulated inside the battery case 11, the injected electrolyte is made to permeate the electrode assembly 12.

[0025] Next, the operation of the method for manufacturing the lithium-ion secondary battery 10 according to this embodiment will be described.

[0026] In this embodiment, the injection port 15 of the lithium ion secondary battery 10 is gripped by the gripping member 221, and the injection port 15 of the lithium ion secondary battery 10 and the pressure reducing nozzle 222 are positioned so as to face each other, and then the pressure reducing nozzle 222 is brought into contact with the injection port 15 of the lithium ion secondary battery 10. Therefore, the required accuracy of positioning the injection port 15 of the lithium ion secondary battery 10 and the pressure reducing nozzle 222 is smaller than when the injection port 15 of the lithium ion secondary battery 10 is not gripped. Therefore, the electrolyte injection device 100 can inject electrolyte into the corresponding lithium ion secondary batteries 10 in parallel through the multiple injection units 200, and the lithium ion secondary batteries 10 can be manufactured efficiently.

[0027] The above-described embodiments are intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention may be modified / improved without departing from the spirit thereof, and equivalents are also included in the present invention. That is, those in which a person skilled in the art appropriately changes the design of each embodiment are also included in the scope of the present invention as long as they have the characteristics of the present invention. For example, the elements and their arrangements, materials, conditions, shapes, sizes, etc. of each embodiment are not limited to those exemplified, and can be appropriately changed. In addition, each embodiment is an example, and it goes without saying that partial replacement or combination of the configurations shown in different embodiments is possible, and these are also included in the scope of the present invention as long as they include the characteristics of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0028] 10...lithium ion secondary battery, 11...battery case, 12...electrode assembly, 13...case body, 14...lid, 15...filling port, 16...sealing member, 17...positive electrode terminal, 18...negative electrode terminal, 19...insulating member, 100...electrolyte injection device, 110...guide rail, 200...injection unit, 210...guide mechanism, 220...gripping mechanism, 221...gripping member, 222...pressure reducing nozzle.

Claims

[Claim 1] A method for manufacturing a nonaqueous electrolyte battery, comprising: a step of gripping a liquid injection port of a battery case with a gripping member; a step of attaching a pressure reducing nozzle connected to the gripping member to a liquid injection port of the battery case gripped by the gripping member; reducing the pressure inside the battery case in which the pressure reducing nozzle is attached to the liquid filling port; injecting an electrolyte into the reduced pressure battery case; Including, A method for manufacturing a non-aqueous electrolyte battery.

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