Stacking apparatus

Abstract

To provide a positioning apparatus which allows improvement in energy efficiency by improving workability in positioning and holding fuel battery cells when stacking the fuel battery cells.SOLUTION: A stacking apparatus 1 has: a measuring apparatus 40 which is disposed on the upper side of a stacking surface P, i.e., the uppermost surface of fuel battery cells FC to be stacked so that it can measure the height of the stacking surface P in a contactless manner without coming into contact with the stacking surface; a calculating part 90 which calculates the amount of elevation for keeping, at a predetermined height, the height of the stacking surface P measured by the measuring apparatus 40; and an adjusting apparatus 20 which adjusts the height of the stacking surface P based on the amount of elevation calculated by the calculating part 90.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a stacking device. [Background technology]

[0002] BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, stacking devices are known that position and stack a plurality of fuel cell units that constitute a fuel cell stack (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-157521 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the above stacking device, it is necessary to have a cell position changing unit on the top of the stacking device, which limits the degree of freedom in designing the device configuration. An object of the present invention is to provide a stacking device that has a high degree of freedom in designing the stacking device configuration and can improve energy efficiency. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a stacking device (e.g., "stacking device 1" described below) that stacks a plurality of fuel cell cells (e.g., "fuel cell FC" described below), the stacking device having a measuring device (e.g., "measuring device 40" described below) that is arranged above a stacking surface (e.g., "stacking surface P" described below) that is the uppermost surface of the stacked fuel cell cells and that is capable of measuring the height of the stacking surface in a non-contact manner without coming into contact with the stacking surface, a calculation unit (e.g., "control device 90" described below) that calculates an elevation amount for maintaining the height of the stacking surface measured by the measuring device at a predetermined height, and an adjustment device (e.g., "adjusting device 20" described below) that adjusts the height of the stacking surface based on the elevation amount calculated in the calculation unit.

[0006] In the above invention, the multiple fuel cell units are guided and positioned by a positioning bar (e.g., the "positioning bar 71" described below) and stacked, and it is preferable that the measuring device measures the height of the stacking surface in a portion adjacent to the portion of the fuel cell unit positioned by the positioning bar (e.g., the "portion R" described below).

[0007] It is also preferable that the adjusting device includes a servo motor, and the height of the stacking surface is adjusted by driving the servo motor. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a stacking device that allows a high degree of freedom in designing the configuration of the stacking device and can improve energy efficiency. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a stacking device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating the state of fuel cells at the beginning and middle of stacking when stacked by the stacking device of the present embodiment. [Figure 3] 4 is a flowchart showing control by a control device of the stacking device in the present embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. As shown in Figures 1, 2, etc., a stacking device 1 for fuel cells FC is a stacking device that stacks a plurality of fuel cells FC, and includes a stack case 10, an adjustment device 20, a stacking hand 30 (see Figure 2, etc.), a measurement device 40, and a control device 90.

[0011] The stack case 10 is configured in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped box having an upper opening 11 where the entire top surface is open. Plate-shaped pin lifters 22 that constitute the adjustment device 20 are arranged horizontally inside the stack case 10. Fuel cells FC can be placed on the upper surfaces of the pin lifters 22. A plurality of horizontally supported plate-shaped rectangular fuel cells FC are inserted through the upper opening 11 of the stack case 10, and the plurality of fuel cells FC are stacked inside the stack case 10.

[0012] The pin lifter 22 is connected to a servo motor that constitutes an adjustment device 20 (see FIG. 2, etc.) provided below the stack case 10. When driven by the servo motor, the pin lifter 22 is configured to be able to move up and down inside the stack case 10. The adjustment device 20 adjusts the height of the stacking surface P, which is the uppermost surface of the stacked fuel cell cells FC, based on the elevation amount calculated by a calculation section of the control device 90.

[0013] An internal case bar 12 is provided inside the stack case 10. The internal case bar 12 is disposed in the horizontal center of the four side walls of the rectangular parallelepiped stack case 10, with its longitudinal direction oriented in the vertical direction. For ease of explanation, the front side wall of the four side walls of the rectangular parallelepiped stack case 10 is not shown in FIG. 1.

[0014] The case internal bar 12 engages with recesses formed on each of the four sides of the rectangular fuel cell FC inserted inside the stack case 10 as engaging portions, and guides the upward and downward movement of the fuel cell FC inside the stack case 10 and positions the fuel cell FC inside the stack case 10.

[0015] A rectangular plate-shaped bar holder (not shown) that covers the top of the upper opening 11 of the stack case 10 is fixed to the upper opening 11, and a positioning bar 71 (see FIG. 1) is detachably fixed to the bar holder. The positioning bar 71 is fixed in a position where the lower end surface of the positioning bar 71 faces the upper end surface of the case internal bar 12 so as to extend the case internal bar 12 upward, and is fixed and held by the bar holder (not shown). The fuel cells FC are guided and positioned by the positioning bar 71 and guided to the case internal bar 12, and are then guided by the case internal bar 12 to be stacked on the pin lifters 22 inside the stack case 10.

[0016] The stacking hand 30 transports the fuel cells FC while supporting them horizontally. The stacking hand 30 is configured to insert the transported fuel cells FC from the top opening 11 of the stack case 10 while maintaining the horizontal state, and stack the fuel cells FC one by one on the pin lifters 22 inside the stack case 10.

[0017] The measuring device 40 has a distance sensor with a laser irradiation unit. The distance sensor is capable of measuring the height of the stacking surface P in a non-contact manner without coming into contact with the stacking surface P, which is the top surface of the stacked fuel cell FC. Specifically, the distance sensor is configured to irradiate the stacking surface P with a laser and receive the reflected laser light, thereby detecting the distance between the laser irradiation unit and the stacking surface P and outputting the height of the stacking surface P. The laser light to be irradiated is not particularly limited, but in this embodiment, for example, infrared laser light is used.

[0018] Four measuring devices 40 are provided. For ease of explanation, only two are shown in Fig. 1. The four measuring devices 40 are arranged directly above the stacking surface P, which is the uppermost surface of the stacked fuel cell cells FC, as shown in Fig. 1. The measuring devices 40 are configured to measure and output the height of a portion R of the stacking surface P near the portion of the stacking surface P of the fuel cell FC that is positioned by contacting the four positioning bars 71.

[0019] The control device 90 constitutes a calculation unit and is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), storage media such as volatile memory, non-volatile memory, etc. The control device 90 is electrically connected to the servo motor of the adjustment device 20, the distance sensor of the measurement device 40, etc., and inputs a signal output from the distance sensor of the measurement device 40 and outputs a signal to the servo motor of the adjustment device 20 to drive the servo motor.

[0020] The control device 90 receives signals including the height values of the stacking surface P output from the distance sensors of the measuring devices 40 and calculates the elevation amount required to maintain the height of the stacking surface P at a predetermined height. Specifically, the control device 90 receives signals including the height values of the stacking surface P from the four measuring devices 40 and calculates the average value. The control device 90 then calculates the difference between the predetermined height and the average value and sets the calculated value as the elevation amount. In other words, the elevation amount refers to the amount by which the pin lifters 22 are moved up and down to adjust the height of the stacking surface P to the predetermined height when the height of the stacking surface P is at a position different from the predetermined position.

[0021] Next, the control of the control device 90 to raise and lower the pin lifters 22 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in Fig. 3. First, in step S11, the control device 90 controls the distance sensors of the four measuring devices 40 to measure the height of the stacking surface P. Then, the control by the control device 90 proceeds to step S12.

[0022] Next, in step S12, the control device 90 inputs four values representing height values at four portions R of the stacking surface P from the four measuring devices 40, and calculates the average value of these four values. The control device 90 then calculates the difference between a predetermined value and the average value, and sets this difference value as the elevation amount. Then, control by the control device 90 proceeds to step S13.

[0023] Next, in step S13, the control device 90 controls the servo motor of the adjustment device 20 to adjust the position of the pin lifter 22 so that the height value of the stacking surface P coincides with a predetermined value based on the elevation amount.

[0024] Specifically, when the average height of the stacking surface P is higher than a predetermined value (see "mid-stacking" in FIG. 2), the control device 90 drives the servo motor of the adjustment device 20 to control the servo motor to lower the pin lifters 22 by the amount of elevation. When the average height of the stacking surface P is lower than a predetermined value (see "initial stage of stacking" in FIG. 2), the control device 90 drives the servo motor of the adjustment device 20 to control the servo motor to raise the pin lifters 22 by the amount of elevation. This causes the average height of the stacking surface P to match the predetermined value. Then, the control by the control device 90 proceeds to step S14.

[0025] Next, in step S14, the control device 90 determines whether stacking of the fuel cells FC is complete, that is, whether a predetermined number of fuel cells FC have been stacked. If stacking of the fuel cells FC is complete (S14: YES), the processing by the control device 90 ends.

[0026] If stacking of the fuel cells FC is not complete (S14: NO), the control device 90 controls the stacking hand 30 to transport another fuel cell FC and insert it through the top opening 11 of the stack case 10 while maintaining it in a horizontal position. Then, the control device 90 controls the stacking hand 30 to place it on top of the uppermost fuel cell FC among the fuel cells FC stacked on the pin lifters 22 inside the stack case 10. Then, the control by the control device 90 returns to step S11, and the above process is performed for each of the fuel cells FC to be stacked.

[0027] The effects of the above embodiment are as follows. The stacking device 1 of this embodiment has a measuring device 40 that is placed above the stacking surface P, which is the top surface of the stacked fuel cell FC, and is capable of measuring the height of the stacking surface P in a non-contact manner without coming into contact with the stacking surface P, a control device 90 that has a calculation unit that calculates the elevation amount to maintain the height of the stacking surface P measured by the measuring device 40 at a predetermined height, and an adjustment device 20 that adjusts the height of the stacking surface P based on the elevation amount calculated in the calculation unit of the control device 90.

[0028] When stacking fuel cell units FC at high speed, it is necessary to keep the height of the stacking surface P at a predetermined position, as indicated by the arrow "small" in Figure 2, to keep the vertical movement distance of the stacking hand 30 short and constant; however, fuel cell units FC have spring properties (warping and undulation), and the thickness changes significantly as the number of stacked units increases.

[0029] If the height of the stacking surface P becomes too high, the positioning bar 71 will protrude above the upper end of the positioning bar 71, reducing positioning. If the stacking height becomes too low, the fuel cells FC will not be kept horizontal when dropped to be stacked, and will tilt, resulting in an incorrect stacking and tilted state. Furthermore, transporting the fuel cells FC to a stacking surface P at a different height increases the transport distance, leading to increased transport time.

[0030] However, in this embodiment, the adjustment device 20 adjusts the height of the stacking surface P by feeding back the height of the stacking surface P to the elevation amount, thereby making it possible to keep it constant at a predetermined position, and in this state it becomes possible to stack the next fuel cell FC. This makes it possible to reduce the vertical movement distance when the stacking hand 30 transports the fuel cell FC, and makes it possible to stack the fuel cells FC at high speed in an automatic process using the stacking hand 30.

[0031] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the multiple fuel cells FC are stacked after being guided and positioned by the positioning bar 71, and the measuring device 40 measures the height of the stacking surface P of the portion R adjacent to the portion of the fuel cell FC positioned by the positioning bar 71. This makes it possible to prevent large variations in the measured values.

[0032] In this embodiment, the adjustment device 20 includes a servo motor, and is driven to adjust the height of the stacking surface P. This allows the height of the stacking surface P to be adjusted with high precision by minute rotation of the servo motor.

[0033] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and includes modifications and improvements within the scope of achieving the object of the present invention. For example, the number and positions of the measuring devices 40 are not limited to those in the present embodiment. Also, although the adjusting device 20 has a servo motor, it is not limited to this and other motors may be used. [Explanation of symbols]

[0034] 1. Stacking device 20 Adjustment device 40 Measuring Equipment 71 Positioning bar 90 Control device (calculation unit) FC fuel cell P laminated surface R part

Claims

1. A stacking device for stacking a plurality of fuel cell units, a measuring device that is arranged above a stacking surface that is the top surface of the stacked fuel cell units and that is capable of measuring the height of the stacking surface in a non-contact manner without coming into contact with the stacking surface; a calculation unit that calculates an elevation amount for maintaining the height of the stacking surface measured by the measuring device at a predetermined height; and an adjustment device that adjusts the height of the stacking surface based on the elevation amount calculated by the calculation unit.

2. The plurality of fuel cells are stacked while being guided and positioned by a positioning bar, The stacking device according to claim 1 , wherein the measuring device measures the height of the stacking surface in a vicinity of the portion of the fuel cell positioned by the positioning bar.

3. the adjusting device comprises a servo motor; 3. The stacking device according to claim 1, wherein the height of the stacking surface is adjusted by driving the servo motor.

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