Charge / discharge inspection equipment

Abstract

To provide a charge / discharge inspection device which can reduce wiring and has excellent maintainability. [Solution] A charge / discharge inspection device 100 includes a tray 10 that stores a plurality of secondary batteries B, a plurality of charge / discharge power sources P that perform charge / discharge control for each secondary battery B, a first conductor 40 that connects the negative or positive sides of each charge / discharge power source P, and a second conductor 60 that is connected to the first conductor 40 by a connection portion 50. Furthermore, of the negative or positive sides of the plurality of charge / discharge power sources P, the side that is connected to the first conductor 40 has the same potential, and the side that is not connected is connected via a charge / discharge contact CP or the like provided corresponding to each of the negative or positive terminals of the plurality of secondary batteries B, and the second conductor 60 is connected by direct contact with the negative or positive terminals of the plurality of secondary batteries B, or is connected to the negative or positive terminals of the plurality of secondary batteries B via the charge / discharge contact CP or the like.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a charge / discharge inspection device. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a charge / discharge inspection device capable of simultaneously charging and discharging a plurality of inspection objects (secondary batteries). For example, Patent Document 1 describes a charge / discharge inspection device equipped with a charge / discharge power supply having first and second charge / discharge probes and first and second voltage measurement probes connected to the positive and negative electrodes of a plurality of secondary batteries that are brought in with each row arranged on a tray at equal intervals, and a charge / discharge means provided for each secondary battery and connected to the first and second charge / discharge probes. In addition, in the charge / discharge inspection device described in Patent Document 1, a charge / discharge unit is formed by integrating the first charge / discharge probe and / or the second charge / discharge probe connected to the charge / discharge means, and a plurality of charge / discharge units corresponding to each row of secondary batteries are formed on a single substrate.

[0003] Patent Document 1 states that such a configuration makes the cable that previously connected the power supply unit and the contact unit unnecessary or makes it possible to significantly shorten it, thereby making it possible to obtain good test results, eliminating the disadvantage that the cable wiring becomes more complicated as the number of charge / discharge channels (groups of cords connecting to individual secondary batteries) increases, and further making it possible to achieve a compact device configuration. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-046615 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, with the recent increase in the battery capacity of secondary batteries, it has become necessary to increase the current value in charge / discharge inspection devices. This requires an increase in the size of the wiring diameter of both the positive and negative electrodes (in other words, thicker wiring), and a significant increase in costs is unavoidable, given the fact that the selection of wiring is made with a sufficient margin for the rated current value. In addition, with the increase in battery capacity of secondary batteries, if the number of wirings increases according to the number of secondary batteries to be processed or the wiring length increases, the wiring resistance value and loss will increase. In addition, there may be cases where the arrangement of thicker, longer, or more numerous wirings places restrictions on the layout of equipment placement, etc.

[0006] In light of these contemporary circumstances, the charge / discharge inspection device described in Patent Document 1 can eliminate the need for the cables connecting the power supply unit and the contact unit, but a cable between the charge / discharge means and the first and second charge / discharge probes and the first and second voltage measurement probes is required for each charge / discharge means. Therefore, as mentioned above, if thicker wiring becomes necessary as the battery capacity of the secondary battery increases, costs will be unavoidable and layout restrictions may arise.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a charge / discharge inspection device that can solve these problems by reducing the amount of wiring compared to conventional devices. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The charge / discharge inspection device of the present invention comprises a tray that stores a plurality of secondary batteries to be inspected, a plurality of charge / discharge power sources provided corresponding to each of the plurality of secondary batteries and that perform charge / discharge control on the secondary batteries, a first conductor that connects the negative or positive sides of the plurality of charge / discharge power sources, and a second conductor connected to the first conductor by a connecting portion, wherein the negative or positive sides of the plurality of charge / discharge power sources that are connected to the first conductor are at the same potential, and the negative or positive sides of the plurality of charge / discharge power sources that are not connected to the first conductor are connected via charge / discharge contacts provided corresponding to each of the negative or positive terminals of the plurality of secondary batteries, and the second conductor is connected by direct contact with the negative or positive terminals of the plurality of secondary batteries, or connected via charge / discharge contacts provided corresponding to each of the negative or positive terminals of the plurality of secondary batteries.

[0009] As a result, the negative or positive sides of multiple charge / discharge power sources are connected by a first conductor, so that the output current from each charge / discharge power source flows from the first conductor through the connecting portion to the second conductor, and power is then supplied to the secondary battery directly from the second conductor or from the second conductor via a charge / discharge contact, thereby performing a charge / discharge inspection.

[0010] In addition, it is preferable to use wiring, plugs, sockets, bus bars, or contacts for the connecting portions.

[0011] In addition, it is desirable that the multiple charge / discharge power sources have a constant current function that detects the current value output from one of the positive or negative electrode sides and performs feedback control based on the detected current value, and that the other electrode side is at the same potential.

[0012] The present invention is more effective when the test object is a secondary battery having a negative terminal and a positive terminal facing each other. Effect of the Invention

[0013] According to the charge / discharge inspection device of the present invention, due to such a configuration, it is possible to provide a charge / discharge inspection device that can reduce wiring and is also easy to maintain. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a charge / discharge inspection device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 1 is a schematic block diagram of a charge / discharge inspection device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a charge / discharge inspection device according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a schematic configuration diagram of a charge / discharge inspection device according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a schematic configuration diagram of a charge / discharge inspection device according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional charge / discharge inspection device. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a conventional charge / discharge inspection device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] The following describes an embodiment of the present invention in detail. The description of each component described below is an example (representative example) of an embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the following content unless the gist of the present invention is changed.

[0016] [Charge / discharge inspection equipment] (First embodiment) First, the configuration of a charge / discharge inspection device 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in comparison with a conventional configuration (FIGS. 6 and 7) with reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3. Here, in FIG. 1, in order to make it easier to understand the configuration of the charge / discharge inspection device 100, some components such as wiring are omitted or some components are shown transparently. The same applies to FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 7. In addition, in the other embodiments, components having the same functions are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0017] The charge / discharge inspection device 100 includes a tray 10 that stores a plurality of secondary batteries B to be inspected, and a plurality of charge / discharge power sources P that are provided corresponding to each of the plurality of secondary batteries B and control the charging and discharging of the secondary batteries B (see FIG. 1). The charge / discharge inspection device 100 also includes a lift plate 11 on which the tray 10 and the secondary batteries B are placed and which is lifted and lowered by an elevator (not shown).

[0018] 1, there are nine secondary batteries B, and therefore the charge / discharge inspection device 100 is provided with nine charge / discharge power sources P11 to P33 corresponding to the nine secondary batteries B. Specifically, the charge / discharge power source P11 controls the charge / discharge of the secondary battery B11, the charge / discharge power source P12 controls the charge / discharge of the secondary battery B12, and the charge / discharge power source P13 controls the charge / discharge of the secondary battery B13. The same applies to the relationships between the other charge / discharge power sources P and the secondary batteries B.

[0019] In addition, the secondary battery B of this embodiment has terminals on opposite sides. Specifically, each secondary battery B is arranged in a 3×3 matrix on the tray 10 such that the positive electrode terminal BP is located on the upper surface and the negative electrode terminal BN is located on the lower surface.

[0020] The charge / discharge power supplies P in this embodiment are grouped into charge / discharge power supplies P11-P13, charge / discharge power supplies P21-P23, and charge / discharge power supplies P31-P33, and are arranged on a substrate 20 for exchanging control signals for each group. Although not shown in Fig. 1, each charge / discharge power supply P is supplied with power from a connected power supply (ACDC power supply) (see Fig. 2). There are no particular limitations on the power supply means.

[0021] The charge / discharge power supply P also has a constant current function that detects the current value output from one of the positive and negative electrodes using a detector (not shown) and performs feedback control using a CPU or the like based on the detected current value. This function controls the current in each secondary battery B to be constant, thereby charging and discharging, and performing a charge / discharge inspection. In this embodiment, the current value output from the positive electrode side of the charge / discharge power supplies P11-13 is detected, and feedback control is performed based on the detected current value, and the negative electrode sides of the charge / discharge power supplies P11-13 are at the same potential. The charge / discharge power supplies P21-P23 and P31-P33 have a similar configuration. This feedback control can be realized using the technology described in the reference document listed below. (Reference) Patent No. 7291592

[0022] Here, a shunt resistor, a current sensor, or the like can be used as the detector. When the channels are insulated (for example, between the charge / discharge power supply P11, the charge / discharge power supply P12, and the charge / discharge power supply P13), both the positive and negative poles are in an undefined state, so the detector can be mounted on either the positive or negative side of the output, and the wiring on either the positive or negative side can be made common. On the other hand, when the channels are not insulated, the negative side has the same potential, so the detector can be provided on the positive side, and the wiring on the negative side can be made common.

[0023] In this embodiment, the positive electrode side of each charge / discharge power source P is connected by a wire W1 to a plurality of positive electrode charge / discharge contacts CP provided in the positive electrode probe unit 30. Note that, although Fig. 1 illustrates only a configuration in which the positive electrode side of each of the charge / discharge power sources P31-P33 is connected by a wire W1 to each of the positive electrode charge / discharge contacts CP of the positive electrode probe unit 30, the charge / discharge power sources P11-P13 and P21-P23 have a similar configuration.

[0024] Furthermore, the charge / discharge inspection device 100 includes a first conductor 40 that connects the negative poles of the charge / discharge power sources P. In this embodiment, the charge / discharge power sources P11 to P13 are connected by the first conductor 41, the charge / discharge power sources P21 to P23 are connected by the first conductor 42, and the charge / discharge power sources P31 to P33 are connected by the first conductor 43.

[0025] Moreover, the first conductor 40 is connected to the second conductor 60 by a connecting portion 50. In this embodiment, the connecting portion 50 is a wiring, and the first conductor 41 is connected to the second conductor 61 by a wiring W21, the first conductor 42 is connected to the second conductor 62 by a wiring W22, and the first conductor 43 is connected to the second conductor 63 by a wiring W23. Here, the connecting portion 50 is generally a conductor, and it is particularly preferable that the connecting portion 50 has a large allowable current value and good electrical conductivity, but the connecting portion 50 can be appropriately selected depending on the specifications and application of the charge / discharge inspection device.

[0026] In this embodiment, the second conductor 60 is disposed on the lift plate 11, and the second conductor 60 is provided with a plurality of negative charging / discharging contacts CN, the number of which corresponds to the number of secondary batteries B. Therefore, the negative side of each charging / discharging power source P is connected to the negative terminal BN of the corresponding secondary battery B by the first conductor 40, the connecting portion 50, the second conductor 60, and the negative charging / discharging contact CN. Of course, the second conductor 60 may be configured to directly contact the negative terminal or positive terminal of each secondary battery B without providing the negative charging / discharging contact CN on the second conductor 60.

[0027] Here, Fig. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of a part (charge / discharge power sources P11-P13) of the charge / discharge inspection device 100. As shown in Fig. 2, the positive electrodes of the charge / discharge power sources P11-P13 are connected to the positive electrode terminals BP of the secondary batteries B11-B13, respectively, while the negative electrode terminals BN of the secondary batteries B11-B13 are bundled and connected by a second conductor 41, a second conductor 61, etc. The charge / discharge power sources P21-P23 and P31-P33 have a similar configuration.

[0028] In this manner, the charge / discharge inspection device 100 can reduce the number of wires on the negative electrode side of the charge / discharge power supply P, thereby realizing wiring savings. 6 and 7, in the conventional charge / discharge inspection device 400, the negative pole sides of the charge / discharge power supplies P11 to P13 are connected by wires W211 to W213 to the negative pole charge / discharge contacts CN (CN1 to CN3) provided in the negative pole probe unit 41. Although not shown in FIG. 6, the negative pole side wiring of the charge / discharge power supplies P21 to P23 and P31 to P33 has a similar configuration. Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 6, the charge / discharge inspection device 100 can reduce the number of wires on the negative electrode side to 1 / 3 compared to the conventional configuration (charge / discharge inspection device 400).

[0029] Therefore, in conventional configurations, wiring on the negative side of the charging / discharging power source P requires wiring for both the negative and positive electrodes equal to the number of charging / discharging contacts (the number of terminals or electrodes of the secondary battery). If thicker wiring becomes necessary as the battery capacity of the secondary battery increases, there is a risk that costs will increase and layout restrictions will arise. However, with this configuration, the present invention can solve these problems.

[0030] Regarding the connection between the ACDC power supply and the charge / discharge power supply P, the input terminal from the ACDC power supply to each charge / discharge power supply P can be made common as shown in Figure 3, provided that the potential of the negative electrode of the input from the ACDC power supply to each charge / discharge power supply P is equal to the potential of the negative electrode of the output of each charge / discharge power supply P.

[0031] In this embodiment, the first conductor 40 is configured to connect the negative electrodes of the charge / discharge power sources P, but it may be configured to connect the positive electrodes of the charge / discharge power sources P. The secondary battery B may have the positive electrode terminal BP and the negative electrode terminal BN on the same surface (for example, the upper surface).

[0032] Furthermore, the charge / discharge inspection device according to the present invention realizes reduced wiring, and in addition to the above-mentioned effects, it is possible to dramatically improve the ease of maintenance, such as inspection, replacement, and cleaning. Specifically, the charge / discharge inspection device requires periodic maintenance due to wear and deterioration of the charge / discharge contacts. In the case of the conventional configuration, it is necessary to pull out the probe unit (for example, the probe units 30 and 31 shown in FIG. 6) when replacing the charge / discharge contacts, but since the wires (for example, W211 to W213 shown in FIG. 6) extend from each charge / discharge power source P to each charge / discharge contact (for example, the negative electrode charge / discharge contact CN shown in FIG. 6), it is necessary to remove all of the wires, and as a result, the work of pulling out the probe unit becomes very complicated. In contrast, the charge / discharge inspection device according to the present invention realizes reduced wiring, and therefore, when replacing the charge / discharge contacts, for example, when pulling out the second conductor 61 (see FIG. 1), it is only necessary to remove the wire W21, and therefore the work of removing the wires can be made extremely easy.

[0033] Second embodiment Next, a charge / discharge inspection device 200 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 4. In this description, differences from the charge / discharge inspection device 100 (see Fig. 1) will be particularly described.

[0034] In the charge / discharge inspection device 200, the second conductor 64 serves both as the second conductor 60 and the lifting plate 11. That is, the second conductor 64 has the tray 10 and the secondary batteries B placed thereon, and is lifted and lowered by an elevator (not shown). Also, a plurality of negative electrode charge / discharge contacts CN are directly provided on the second conductor 64 at portions corresponding to the respective secondary batteries B on the second conductor 64.

[0035] 4, the coupling portion 50 (the coupling portions 51-53) are plugs. Therefore, in the charge / discharge inspection device 200, when the second conductor 64 is elevated by an elevator (not shown), the first conductors 41-43 and the second conductor 64 are coupled to each other by the coupling portions 51-53 which are plugs.

[0036] In this way, by using a plug or socket that can handle large current in the connecting part 50, it becomes possible to remove it with one touch. Therefore, it is possible to easily attach and detach the connecting part 50, and convenience and maintainability are further improved.

[0037] (Third embodiment) Finally, a charge / discharge inspection device 300 according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 5. The differences from the charge / discharge inspection device 100 (see Fig. 1) will be mainly described.

[0038] In the charge / discharge inspection device 300, the secondary batteries B are arranged so that the positive electrode terminal BP and the negative electrode terminal BN are located on the left and right. In the example shown in Fig. 5, five secondary batteries B are arranged side by side on a tray 10. The charge / discharge inspection device 300 also includes a plurality of charge / discharge power sources P (charge / discharge power sources P41 to P45) that perform charge / discharge control for each secondary battery B, and these charge / discharge power sources P41 to P45 are connected by a first conductor 44.

[0039] In this embodiment, the positive electrode terminal BP of each secondary battery B contacts with a plurality of positive electrode charging / discharging contacts CP provided on the positive electrode probe unit 30. Meanwhile, the negative electrode terminal BN of each secondary battery B contacts with a plurality of negative electrode charging / discharging contacts CN provided on the negative electrode probe unit 31.

[0040] Each positive charge / discharge contact CP is connected to the positive side of each of the charge / discharge power supplies P41 to P45 by a wire W1. Meanwhile, each negative charge / discharge contact CN is connected to the second conductor 65 by a wire W2, and is further connected to the negative side of each of the charge / discharge power supplies P41 to P45 by a connecting portion 54 and a first conductor 44.

[0041] In this embodiment, a bus bar is used for the connecting portion 50. If the connecting portion 50 is made of wiring, each wire has an insulating coating, and therefore, when laying multiple wires, space is taken up, and the wiring work is inevitably troublesome. Therefore, by using a metal conductor such as a bus bar or a metal structure of a stand for the connecting portion 50, such troublesomeness can be eliminated and a simple configuration can be achieved. As a result, the degree of freedom in the layout of the charge / discharge inspection device 300 and the entire charge / discharge inspection device 300 can be ensured so that the design can be optimized for the installation location, etc.

[0042] Furthermore, the charge / discharge inspection device 300 can bring the positive electrode charging / discharging contact CP and the negative electrode charging / discharging contact CN into contact with the positive electrode terminal BP and the negative electrode terminal BN of the secondary battery B (see the arrows shown in FIG. 5) by, for example, moving the positive electrode probe unit 30 and the negative electrode probe unit 31 (bringing them closer to the secondary battery B). At this time, since each negative electrode charging / discharging contact CN is connected to the negative electrode side of each charging / discharging power source P by the wire W2 extending from the second conductor 65, the length of the wires can be made shorter than those in the conventional configuration (for example, the wires W211 to W213 shown in FIG. 6), resulting in reduced wiring.

[0043] The present embodiment described above is merely an example, and each component can be appropriately modified in design without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the number of secondary batteries B exemplified in this description is about 9 or 5, but the greater the number of secondary batteries, that is, the greater the number of wires connected to the positive / negative charging / discharging contacts, the more fully the effects of the present invention can be obtained. Furthermore, the charge / discharge inspection device according to the present invention can appropriately configure the optimum number of charge / discharge power sources depending on the number and arrangement of secondary batteries to be inspected and the current value therethrough. [Industrial Applicability]

[0044] The present invention is a charge / discharge inspection device that can reduce wiring compared to conventional configurations, and in addition, it is easy to maintain and can be used in a variety of locations and for a variety of purposes, making it industrially useful. [Explanation of symbols]

[0045] 10 Tray 11 Lifting plate 20 Substrate 30 Positive electrode probe unit 31 Negative electrode probe unit 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 First conductor 50,51,52,53 Connection part 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 Second conductor 100,200,300 Charge / discharge inspection device 400 Conventional charge / discharge inspection equipment P,P11,P12,P13,P21,P22,P23,P31,P32,P33 Charge / discharge power supply CP charge / discharge contact for positive electrode CN,CN1,CN2,CN3 Charge / discharge contact for negative electrode B,B11,B12,B13 Secondary battery BP Positive terminal of secondary battery Negative terminal of BN secondary battery W, W1, W2, W21, W211, W212, W213, W22, W23 Wiring

Claims

1. A tray for storing a plurality of secondary batteries to be inspected; a plurality of charge / discharge power sources provided corresponding to the plurality of secondary batteries, respectively, for controlling charging / discharging of the secondary batteries; A first conductor connecting the negative or positive terminals of the plurality of charging / discharging power sources; a second conductor connected to the first conductor by a connecting portion; Among the negative and positive sides of the plurality of charging and discharging power sources, the side connected to the first conductor is at the same potential; The negative or positive sides of the plurality of charging / discharging power sources that are not connected to the first conductor are connected to the plurality of secondary batteries via charging / discharging contacts provided corresponding to the negative or positive terminals of the plurality of secondary batteries, respectively; A charge / discharge inspection device in which the second conductor connects to the multiple secondary batteries by directly contacting the negative or positive terminals of the multiple secondary batteries, or connects to the multiple secondary batteries respectively via charge / discharge contacts provided corresponding to the negative or positive terminals of the multiple secondary batteries.

2. The charge / discharge inspection device according to claim 1 , wherein the connecting portion is a wire, a plug, a socket, a bus bar, or a contact.

3. 2. The charge / discharge inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of charge / discharge power sources have a constant current function of detecting a current value output from one of the positive and negative electrode sides and performing feedback control based on the detected current value, and the other electrode side is at the same potential.

4. 4. The charge / discharge inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the secondary battery has a negative terminal and a positive terminal that face each other.

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