Liquid injection jig structure for secondary battery manufacture

Abstract

To obtain a liquid injection jig structure for secondary battery manufacture that can prevent liquid leakage from a battery caused by the insufficient contact area of a sealant of the battery and entry of outside air into the battery.SOLUTION: A jig 10 comprises: O-rings 28 that are formed of an elastic body, and while surrounding, when seen from a first direction, inflow port parts 18 formed in a sealing part 16 provided in an opening 14A of a laminate exterior body 14 of a battery 12, that can be pressed against the sealing part 16 from one side of a first direction; a liquid injection guide part 26 that can hold the O-rings 28, and includes injection port parts 36A opening on the inside of the O-rings 28 when seen from the first direction; an adjustor 24 that includes injection paths 34 communicating with the injection port parts 36A, is arranged on one side of the first direction of the liquid injection guide part 26, and is formed of an elastic body; and a guide part 22B that is arranged on the other side of the first direction of the liquid injection guide part 26, and is formed in a cylindrical shape in which its cross-sectional area increases toward the other side of the first direction from one side of the first direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a structure of a liquid injection jig for manufacturing secondary batteries.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 below describes an invention related to a bipolar battery. In this bipolar battery, an electrolytic solution is injected into the battery through an injection hole provided in a seal portion of the battery. Then, after the injection of the electrolytic solution, the injection hole is sealed with a sealing material.

Prior Art Document

Patent Document

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, depending on the shape around the injection hole in the seal portion, it is conceivable that the contact area between the seal portion of the battery and the sealing material becomes small, and liquid leakage from the battery or intrusion of outside air into the battery may occur.

[0005] However, the prior art according to Patent Document 1 above does not disclose suppressing liquid leakage from the battery or intrusion of outside air into the battery due to insufficient contact area of the sealing material of the battery, and the prior art described in Patent Document 1 has room for improvement in this regard.

[0006] In consideration of the above facts, an object of the present invention is to obtain a structure of a liquid injection jig for manufacturing secondary batteries that can suppress liquid leakage from the battery or intrusion of outside air into the battery due to insufficient contact area of the sealing material of the battery.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The structure of the liquid injection jig for manufacturing a secondary battery according to the first aspect includes a ring portion made of an elastic body that can be pressed against the sealing portion from one side in the first direction while surrounding the inlet portion formed in the sealing portion provided at the opening of the laminate exterior body constituting the outer peripheral portion of the battery, a liquid injection guide portion that can hold the ring portion and has an injection port portion that opens inside the ring portion when viewed from the first direction, an injection path communicating with the injection port portion, an adjuster made of an elastic body disposed on one side in the first direction of the liquid injection guide portion, and a guide portion having a cylindrical shape whose cross-sectional area increases from one side in the first direction toward the other side in the first direction and disposed on the other side in the first direction of the liquid injection guide portion.

[0008] According to the structure of the liquid injection jig for manufacturing a secondary battery according to the first aspect, it includes a ring portion made of an elastic body and a liquid injection guide portion that can hold the ring portion and has an injection port portion that opens inside the ring portion when viewed from the first direction.

[0009] Therefore, with the inlet portion formed in the sealing portion provided at the opening of the laminate exterior body constituting the outer peripheral portion of the battery surrounded by the ring portion when viewed from the first direction, the ring portion can be pressed against the sealing portion from one side in the first direction. At this time, due to the elastic deformation of the ring portion, the ring portion is in close contact with the sealing portion.

[0010] And in this state, a part of the electrolyte flowing out from the injection port portion of the liquid injection guide portion directly flows into the inlet portion of the sealing portion, and the electrolyte that does not directly flow into the inlet portion is also blocked by the ring portion and finally flows into the inlet portion.

[0011] Therefore, in this aspect, it is possible to stably flow the electrolyte from the inlet portion into the inside of the laminate exterior body without forming a frame portion or the like around the inlet portion in the sealing portion. As a result, the shape around the inlet portion in the sealing portion can be simplified, and it becomes easy to adhere the sealing material that closes the inlet portion to the periphery of the inlet portion in the sealing portion.

[0012] In addition, in this embodiment, an adjuster is disposed on one side in the first direction of the liquid injection guide portion. Since this adjuster is provided with an injection path communicated with the injection port portion of the liquid injection guide portion, the electrolytic solution flows into the injection port portion through the injection path.

[0013] Furthermore, since this adjuster is formed of an elastic body, even if an error occurs in the shape around the inflow port portion in the sealing portion, this error can be absorbed by the elastic deformation of the adjuster.

[0014] In addition, a guide portion is disposed on the other side in the first direction of the liquid injection guide portion. This guide portion is formed in a cylindrical shape whose cross-sectional area increases as it goes from one side in the first direction to the other side in the first direction. For this reason, when the sealing portion approaches the guide portion, the sealing portion is guided to the liquid injection guide portion side by moving along the guide portion. As a result, the accuracy of the inflow port portion of the sealing portion being positioned near the injection port portion of the liquid injection guide portion can be increased.

Advantages of the Invention

[0015] As described above, the liquid injection jig structure for manufacturing a secondary battery according to the present invention has an excellent effect of being able to suppress liquid leakage from the battery and intrusion of outside air into the battery due to insufficient contact area of the sealing material of the battery.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0016]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0017] Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, the configuration of the jig 10 to which the structure of the electrolyte injection jig for manufacturing a secondary battery according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described. In this embodiment, for convenience, the arrow X shown in each figure is referred to as the width direction of the jig 10 (hereinafter simply referred to as the width direction), the arrow Y is referred to as the depth direction of the jig 10 (hereinafter simply referred to as the depth direction), and the arrow Z is referred to as the height direction of the jig 10 (hereinafter simply referred to as the height direction). Among the width direction, the depth direction, and the height direction, one of these directions is orthogonal to the remaining two directions.

[0018] First, with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the schematic configuration of the "battery 12" manufactured using the jig 10 will be described. This battery 12 is, for example, a bipolar battery that can be used as an in-vehicle power source for electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, etc.

[0019] The battery 12 includes a "laminated exterior body 14" that constitutes its outer peripheral portion, a bipolar electrode (not shown) disposed inside the laminated exterior body 14, and a "sealing portion 16" provided at an "opening 14A" of the laminated exterior body 14. The inside of the battery 12 is filled with an electrolyte injected by the jig 10 from an "inflow port portion 18" formed in the sealing portion 16.

[0020] The inflow port portion 18 opens to the upper surface 16A in the height direction of the sealing portion 16 and is in a slit shape extending in the longitudinal direction of the sealing portion 16. Further, as an example, the inflow port portions 18 are arranged in a set of three in the width direction of the sealing portion 16 at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction of the sealing portion 16. The inflow port portion 18 is sealed with a sealing material (not shown) such as a laminate material.

[0021] Next, the configuration of the jig 10 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the jig 10 includes a distribution portion 20 that distributes the electrolyte supplied from the injection pipe 17, a case 22, an "adjuster 24", a "liquid injection guide portion 26", and an "O-ring 28" as a ring portion.

[0022] The distribution section 20 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape with its outer shape having the width direction as the longitudinal direction, and a distribution flow path section 30 for guiding the electrolytic solution toward the adjuster 24 is formed inside thereof. Further, the distribution flow path section 30 includes a plurality of openings 30A formed on the lower surface of the distribution section 20, and these openings 30A are grouped in sets of three in the depth direction and arranged at a predetermined interval in the width direction. Note that the interval in the depth direction between the openings 30A is set to the same distance as the interval in the width direction of the sealing section 16 at the inflow section 18 of the sealing section 16.

[0023] The case 22 is disposed below the distribution section 20 in the height direction, and includes a box-shaped main body section 22A with its outer shape being a rectangular parallelepiped shape having the width direction as the longitudinal direction and the lower side in the height direction being open, and a "guide section 22B" provided below the main body section 22A in the height direction.

[0024] Specifically, a plurality of through holes 32 corresponding to the openings 30A of the distribution section 20 are formed in the upper wall section 22A1 of the main body section 22A. And inside the main body section 22A, the adjuster 24 is accommodated on the upper side in the height direction, and the liquid injection guide section 26 is accommodated below the adjuster 24.

[0025] On the other hand, the guide section 22B is provided below the main body section 22A in the height direction, and is formed in a cylindrical shape with the cross-sectional area increasing from the upper side in the height direction toward the lower side in the height direction.

[0026] The adjuster 24 is made of rubber, and its outer shape is a rectangular parallelepiped shape having the width direction as the longitudinal direction, and a plurality of them are arranged in a row in the width direction. And in the adjuster 24, three "injection paths 34" are formed at a predetermined interval in the depth direction and extending in the height direction so as to overlap the openings 30A when viewed from the height direction.

[0027] Further, a recess (not shown) is formed on the upper surface of the adjuster 24. A protrusion (not shown) provided on the upper wall portion 22A1 of the case 22 is locked in this recess, whereby the adjuster 24 is attached to the case 22. Note that, depending on the material of the rubber constituting the adjuster 24, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a plurality of adjusters 24 are integrated.

[0028] The liquid injection guide portion 26 is made of resin, and its outer shape is a rectangular parallelepiped shape with the longitudinal direction in the width direction, and a plurality of them are arranged in a row in the width direction. And in the liquid injection guide portion 26, three injection paths 36 that are arranged at a predetermined interval in the depth direction and extend in the height direction are formed so as to overlap the injection path 34 when viewed from the height direction. Note that the injection paths 36 that are continuous in the height direction and the injection path 34 are in communication.

[0029] Further, a recess (not shown) is formed on the upper surface of the liquid injection guide portion 26. A protrusion (not shown) provided on the lower surface of the adjuster 24 is locked in this recess, whereby the liquid injection guide portion 26 is attached to the adjuster 24.

[0030] Furthermore, on the lower surface of the liquid injection guide portion 26, for each of the "inlet portions 36A" on the lower side in the height direction of the injection path 36, an annular groove portion 38 that surrounds the inlet portion 36A when viewed from the height direction and has an oval shape with the longitudinal direction in the width direction is formed.

[0031] And an O-ring 28 made of rubber is fitted in the annular groove portion 38. This O-ring 28 can be pressed against the sealing portion 16 from the upper side in the height direction in a state of surrounding the inlet portion 18 of the sealing portion 16 when viewed from the height direction during the injection of the electrolyte into the battery 12 by the jig 10.

[0032] (Actions and Effects of this Embodiment) Next, the actions and effects of this embodiment will be described.

[0033] In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, an O-ring 28 formed of an elastic body and a liquid injection guide portion 26 that can hold the O-ring 28 and has an injection port portion 36A that opens inside the O-ring 28 when viewed from the height direction are provided.

[0034] Therefore, with the inflow port portion 18 formed in the sealing portion 16 provided in the opening portion 14A of the laminate exterior body 14 constituting the outer peripheral portion of the battery 12 being surrounded by the O-ring 28 when viewed from the height direction, the O-ring 28 can be pressed against the sealing portion 16 from the upper side in the height direction. At this time, due to the elastic deformation of the O-ring 28, the O-ring 28 is in a state of being in close contact with the sealing portion 16.

[0035] And in this state, a part of the electrolytic solution flowing out from the injection port portion 36A of the liquid injection guide portion 26 directly flows into the inflow port portion 18, and the electrolytic solution that did not directly flow into the inflow port portion 18 is also finally made to flow into the inflow port portion 18 by being blocked by the O-ring 28.

[0036] Therefore, in the present embodiment, even if a frame portion or the like is not formed around the inflow port portion 18 in the sealing portion 16, the electrolytic solution can be stably poured from the inflow port portion 18 into the inside of the laminate exterior body 14. As a result, the shape around the inflow port portion 18 in the sealing portion 16 can be simplified, and it becomes easy to bring a sealing material that closes the inflow port portion 18 into close contact with the periphery of the inflow port portion 18 in the sealing portion.

[0037] Also, in the present embodiment, an adjuster 24 is disposed above the liquid injection guide portion 26 in the height direction. Since this adjuster 24 has an injection path 34 communicated with the injection port portion 36A of the liquid injection guide portion 26, the electrolytic solution flows into the injection port portion 36A through the injection path 34.

[0038] Furthermore, since this adjuster 24 is formed of an elastic body, even if an error occurs in the shape around the inflow port portion 18 in the sealing portion 16, this error can be absorbed by the elastic deformation of the adjuster 24.

[0039] In addition, a guide portion 22B is disposed below the liquid injection guide portion 26 in the height direction. The guide portion 22B has a cylindrical shape with a cross-sectional area increasing from the upper side in the height direction to the lower side in the height direction. Therefore, when the sealing portion 16 approaches the guide portion 22B, the sealing portion 16 is guided toward the liquid injection guide portion 26 by moving along the guide portion 22B. As a result, the accuracy of the inlet portion 18 of the sealing portion 16 being positioned near the injection port portion 36A of the liquid injection guide portion 26 can be increased.

[0040] As described above, the jig 10 to which the liquid injection jig structure for manufacturing a secondary battery according to the present embodiment is applied can suppress liquid leakage from the battery 12 and intrusion of outside air into the battery 12 due to insufficient contact area of the sealing material of the battery 12.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0041] 12 Battery 14 Laminate exterior body 14A Opening 16 Sealing portion 18 Inlet portion 22B Guide portion 24 Adjuster 26 Liquid injection guide portion 28 O-ring (ring portion) 34 Injection path 36A Injection port portion

Claims

【Claim 1】 A ring portion formed of an elastic body that can be pressed against the sealing portion from one side in the first direction in a state where an inlet portion formed in the sealing portion provided in the opening of the laminated exterior body constituting the outer peripheral portion of the battery is surrounded when viewed from the first direction, and A liquid injection guide portion that can hold the ring portion and has an injection port portion that opens inside the ring portion when viewed from the first direction, and An adjuster formed of an elastic body, which is provided with an injection path communicating with the injection port portion and is disposed on one side in the first direction of the liquid injection guide portion, and A guide portion having a cylindrical shape whose cross-sectional area increases as it goes from one side in the first direction to the other side in the first direction, and is disposed on the other side in the first direction of the liquid injection guide portion, and A liquid injection jig structure for manufacturing a secondary battery, comprising the above components.

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