IR / OCV inspection device for small secondary batteries

Abstract

An IR / OCV inspection device for a secondary battery is provided. The above inspection device is characterized by being equipped with: a support member that supports the inspection device from below and pushes the small secondary battery to be inspected upward; a clamping member located on the upper part of the support member and fixing the raised small secondary battery; and an inspection member located on the upper part of the clamping member and inspecting the small secondary battery to be inspected fixed to the clamping member. The above inspection unit may be composed of a probe and a probe cartridge that fixes and allows the probe to be replaced, wherein the probe is composed of two probes that contact two small secondary battery terminals according to the position of the small secondary battery terminals, and each probe is a 2-pin type probe having two touch points, and the probe may be composed of a cross-pin type probe characterized by arranging multiple pins side by side at the position where the probe contacts two small secondary battery terminals, and alternately arranging IR measurement pins for IR measurement and OCV measurement pins for OCV measurement, and a PCB type probe including a linear touch portion that is configured linearly in the longitudinal direction for contacting the small secondary battery terminals using copper foil of a PCB board.

Description

Technology Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for checking the internal condition and defects of a secondary battery by inspecting the internal impedance and no-load potential (IR / OCV: internal resistance / open current voltage) of the secondary battery, and is a technology for a device that improves the accuracy and speed of inspection, and is particularly a technology for an inspection device suitable for small secondary batteries. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of electrical and electronic technology, the use of portable electronic products that are small, lightweight, and have various functions is rapidly increasing. Small secondary batteries are commonly used as power supplies for portable electronic products, and rechargeable secondary batteries are mainly used.

[0003] In secondary batteries, internal impedance and no-load potential (IR / OCV: internal resistance / open current voltage) serve as indicators to check the internal condition and defects of the secondary battery, so typically, a process of inspecting these is performed before the product is shipped.

[0004] In a device for testing secondary batteries, the testing device mainly uses a Kelvin probe. The Kelvin probe is the most commonly used testing device, as it has two pins exposed to the outside that contact the two terminals of a small secondary battery to test IR / OCV. However, there is a problem in that the positions of the two pins must be changed to match the positions of the small secondary battery terminals when the size or type of the small secondary battery changes or the position of the terminals changes.

[0005] In addition, the small secondary batteries to be inspected must be placed in a carrier that accommodates several or dozens of small secondary batteries and moved toward the inspection device so that the position of the probe pin aligns with the position of the small secondary battery terminal. However, since the small secondary batteries may tilt to one side due to gaps in the space containing the small secondary batteries, causing the position of the probe to not exactly align with the position of the small secondary battery terminal and resulting in inspection errors, it is necessary to fix the small secondary batteries at a certain position.

[0006] The present invention is designed to improve the inconvenience of having to replace or change probes depending on the type of small secondary battery in existing inspection devices, and to improve the accuracy of inspection by stably fixing small secondary batteries contained in a tray. The problem to be solved

[0007] The present invention aims to eliminate the inconvenience of changing the inspection probe according to the change in the type of small secondary battery in a device for inspecting the IR / OCV of a small secondary battery, and to resolve the inaccuracy of inspection caused by the tilting phenomenon of the small secondary battery contained in the small secondary battery carrier. means of solving the problem

[0008] An IR / OCV inspection device for a small secondary battery is provided. The inspection device is characterized by comprising: a support member that supports the inspection device from below and pushes the small secondary battery to be inspected upward; a clamping member located on the upper part of the support member and fixing the small secondary battery; and an inspection member located on the upper part of the clamping member and inspecting the small secondary battery to be inspected fixed to the clamping member.

[0009] The above support member is characterized by including a cylinder having a cylinder shaft, a support member, and a plurality of lifting pins that push up a small secondary battery on the support member.

[0010] The above clamping part is characterized by being composed of an upper clamp and a lower clamp.

[0011] The upper clamp and lower clamp are characterized by having one side open and a plurality of clamping grooves that accommodate the small secondary battery to be inspected along the longitudinal direction of the upper surface of the small secondary battery.

[0012] The upper clamp is driven by a first moving bar, the second clamp is driven by a second moving bar, and the first moving bar and the second moving bar are driven in opposite directions.

[0013] The above inspection unit is characterized by being composed of a probe and a probe cartridge that fixes the probe and makes it replaceable.

[0014] The above probe is characterized by having two probes that contact two small secondary battery terminals, each probe having two touch points, and each probe having two touch points.

[0015] The above probe is characterized by having a plurality of pins arranged side by side at a position that contacts two small secondary battery terminals, with IR measurement pins for IR measurement and OCV measurement pins for OCV measurement alternately arranged.

[0016] The above probe is characterized in that the width of two adjacent pins is smaller than or equal to the width of a small secondary battery terminal.

[0017] The above probe is characterized by having a contact prevention block that prevents the probe, which does not directly contact the small secondary battery terminal, from coming into contact with the small secondary battery body.

[0018] The above probe is characterized by having three IR measurement pins for IR measurement and three OCV measurement pins for OCV measurement arranged in an alternating pattern.

[0019] The above probe is configured with a longitudinal linear portion that contacts a small secondary battery terminal using copper foil of a PCB substrate, and the two rows of touch portions are characterized in that one row measures IR values ​​and the other row measures OCV values.

[0020] The touch portion of the above two rows may have a sawtooth shape. Effects of the invention

[0021] A device for testing the IR / OCV of a small secondary battery is provided, which does not require changing the test probe even if the type of small secondary battery is changed.

[0022] In addition, it provides an inspection device that enables more accurate inspection by fixing a small secondary battery at a certain position. Brief explanation of the drawing

[0023] FIG. 1 is a drawing showing the overall structure of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a drawing showing the main configuration of the present invention. Figure 3 is a drawing showing the structure of the support part. Figure 4 is a drawing showing the structure of the clamping part. Figure 5 is a drawing showing the structure of the inspection unit. Figure 6 is a diagram showing the structure of a 2-pin type probe. Figure 7 is a diagram showing the structure of a 6-pin type probe. Figure 8 is a diagram showing the structure of a PCB-type probe. Figure 9 is a drawing showing the detailed structure of a PCB-type probe. Figure 10 is a drawing showing the tooth structure of a PCB-type probe. Specific details for implementing the invention

[0024] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. In describing the embodiments of the present invention, specific descriptions of related known functions or configurations are omitted if it is determined that such detailed descriptions may unnecessarily obscure the essence of the present invention.

[0025] FIG. 1 is a drawing showing the overall structure of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a drawing showing the main configuration of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a drawing showing the structure of the support part. FIG. 4 is a drawing showing the structure of the clamping part. FIG. 5 is a drawing showing the structure of the inspection part. FIG. 6 is a drawing showing the structure of a 2-pin type probe. FIG. 7 is a drawing showing the structure of a 6-pin type probe. FIG. 8 is a drawing showing the structure of a PCB type probe. FIG. 9 is a drawing showing the detailed structure of a PCB type probe. FIG. 10 is a drawing showing the tooth structure of a PCB type probe.

[0026] The present invention comprises a support member (100) that supports the entire configuration of the present invention from below and simultaneously raises a small secondary battery to be inspected upward, a clamping member (200) that fixes the small secondary battery raised upward by the support member (100), an inspection member (300) that inspects the IR / OCV of the small secondary battery fixed to the clamping member (200), and a carrier (400) that mounts the small secondary battery to be inspected and moves the small secondary battery after inspection is completed.

[0027] First, the support part (100) will be explained.

[0028] The support member (100) is composed of a lower cylinder (110), a support member (120) that supports a rising pin described later at the upper part of the lower cylinder (110), and a rising pin (130) that pushes a small secondary battery upward.

[0029] The lower cylinder (110) is configured to serve as a power source that enables the support member to move up and down, and is equipped with a lower cylinder shaft (111). When inspecting the IR / OCV of a small secondary battery, the cylinder shaft (111) rises by the operation of the cylinder to raise the support member (120), and when the inspection is completed, it lowers to lower the support member (120). The cylinder (110) may be a hydraulic cylinder.

[0030] The support (120) is located on the upper part of the cylinder (110) and serves to support and accommodate the rising pin (130) from below, and moves up and down according to the movement of the cylinder shaft (111).

[0031] A lifting pin (130) is provided on the upper surface of the base (120). The lifting pin (130) is located in a vertical line with the small secondary battery support hole (420) located at the bottom of the carrier (400) described later, and serves to lift the small secondary battery contained in the carrier (400) to the clamping part (200) by passing through the small secondary battery support hole (420).

[0032] When the cylinder shaft (111) of the support member (100) moves upward by operating the cylinder (110) and pushes the support member (120) upward, the rising pin (130) located on the upper surface of the support member (120) passes through the small secondary battery support hole (420) of the carrier (400) described later and pushes up the lower part of the small secondary battery (B) mounted on the carrier (400), thereby positioning the small secondary battery in the clamping member (200).

[0033] Next, the clamping part (200) will be explained.

[0034] The clamping part (200) is composed of an upper clamp (210) that holds a small secondary battery from the top and a first moving bar (220) that moves the upper clamp (210) left and right, a lower clamp (230) that holds a small secondary battery from the bottom and a second moving bar (240) that moves the lower clamp (230) left and right.

[0035] As can be seen in FIG. 4, the upper clamp (210) and the lower clamp (230) have one side open and are provided with a plurality of clamping grooves (250) that can accommodate a plurality of small secondary batteries by forming a long groove along the longitudinal direction of the upper surface of the small secondary battery. Although the structure in the drawing can accommodate only two small secondary batteries, the number of clamping grooves (250) can be increased to accommodate dozens of small secondary batteries simultaneously in order to inspect a large number of small secondary batteries.

[0036] The upper clamp (210) and the lower clamp (230) are configured to overlap vertically with their respective clamping grooves (250) positioned on a vertical line, and when a small secondary battery is raised by the rising pin (140), the small secondary battery passes through the clamping groove (250) of the lower clamp (230) and the clamping groove (250) of the upper clamp (210) and is positioned.

[0037] The first moving bar (220) is configured to move the upper clamp (210) left and right, moving with a width similar to the clearance of the small secondary battery contained in the carrier (400), and the second moving bar (240) is configured to move the lower clamp (230) left and right, moving with a width similar to the clearance of the small secondary battery contained in the carrier (400), just like the first moving bar (220). The first moving bar (220) and the second moving bar (240) face each other or move in opposite directions. Accordingly, when the small secondary battery raised by the rising pin (130) passes through the clamping groove (250) of the upper clamp (210) and the lower clamp (230), the first moving bar (220) and the second moving bar (240) move in opposite directions so that the upper clamp (210) and the lower clamp (230) interlock the small secondary battery from the upper and lower sides, thereby vertically fixing the small secondary battery. After the inspection is finished, the first moving bar (220) and the second moving bar (240) move in opposite directions to release the fixed small secondary battery, and as the support part (100) descends, the small secondary battery moves out to the lower side of the clamping part (200).

[0038] Next, the inspection unit (300) is explained.

[0039] The inspection unit (300) consists of an upper cylinder (310) that serves as a power source, a probe (320) that inspects small secondary battery IR / OCV, and a probe cartridge (330) that fixes the probe (320).

[0040] The upper cylinder (310) is configured to serve as a power source that enables the inspection unit to move up and down, and is equipped with an upper cylinder shaft (311). When inspecting the IR / OCV of a small secondary battery, the upper cylinder shaft (311) is lowered by the operation of the cylinder to lower the probe (320) to the position of the small secondary battery terminal, and when the inspection is completed, it rises to raise the probe (320) upward. The upper cylinder (310) may be a hydraulic cylinder.

[0041] The probe (320) is configured to directly contact the small secondary battery terminal to test the IR / OCV of the small secondary battery, and the probe (320) can be configured as one of a 2-pin type, a cross-pin type, or a PCB type depending on how the touch part (321) for testing IR / OCV is configured.

[0042] Typically, a small secondary battery terminal consists of a (+) terminal and a (-) terminal, and when performing an IR / OCV test, the test is performed by making contact with both terminals using a touch part (321), and the touch part (321) that contacts one small secondary battery terminal performs the test by simultaneously contacting the touch part that tests IR and the touch part that tests OCV.

[0043] Figure 6 is a diagram showing a 2-pin type probe.

[0044] FIG. 6 shows the direction of going up and down with arrows to represent the appearance before and during contact with the small secondary battery terminals. The 2-pin type probe (320) is a probe (320) in which two probes (320) that contact two small secondary battery terminals (BT) are configured to match the position of the small secondary battery terminals.

[0045] Each probe that contacts two small secondary battery terminals (BT) has two touch points (not shown), one of which checks IR and the other checks OCR. In the case of the 2-pin type, there is the inconvenience of having to change the position of the probe when the position of the small secondary battery terminal changes due to changes in the type or size of the small secondary battery.

[0046] Fig. 7 is a drawing of a cross-pin type probe.

[0047] As can be seen in FIG. 7, the cross-pin type probe has multiple pins arranged side by side at the position of the probe (320) that contacts two small secondary battery terminals (BT), with IR measurement pins (322) for IR measurement and OCV measurement pins (323) for OCV measurement arranged alternately, and the width of the two measurement pins (322, 323) is arranged to be smaller than the width of the small secondary battery terminals.

[0048] Therefore, as can be seen from the lower right of Fig. 7, even if the small secondary battery terminal (BT) changes to various positions due to changes in the size or type of the small secondary battery, continuous inspection is possible without the need to change the probe position. Preferably, considering that the present invention is a small secondary battery inspection device, if the multiple pins are configured with six intersecting pins, normal inspection is possible regardless of where the small secondary battery terminal is located.

[0049] When performing IR / OCV inspection, as the probe descends to make contact with multiple pins on the small secondary battery terminal (BT), there is a possibility that pins that are out of contact with the small secondary battery terminal may come into contact with the small secondary battery body, and if contact occurs, there is a risk of fire. To prevent this problem, the cross-pin type probe may be equipped with a contact prevention block (340) to prevent pins that are not in contact with the small secondary battery terminal from coming into contact with the small secondary battery body.

[0050] The contact prevention block (340) forms a block that binds the cross-pin type probes together, thereby preventing the touch portion (321) of the probe from going down further below the small secondary battery terminal.

[0051] Figures 8 and 9 are drawings of a PCB-type probe.

[0052] A PCB-type probe is a probe that can be measured by using copper foil of a PCB board to create two rows of probe touch portions (321) so that it can be applied to a small secondary battery of any size.

[0053] As can be seen in FIG. 9, the PCB-type probe (320) has two linearly long touch portions (321) that contact the small secondary battery terminals, so that one linear touch portion (321) measures the IR value and the other linear touch portion (321) measures the OCV value.

[0054] By arranging the PCB-type probe lengthwise along the side where the terminals of the small secondary battery are located, it is possible to inspect the small secondary battery terminals regardless of their position. Therefore, even if the terminal position changes depending on the size or type of the small secondary battery, inspection can be continuously performed using the present invention without changing the probe (310).

[0055] The linear touch portion (321) of the PCB-type probe can be configured in a sawtooth shape as can be seen in FIG. 10. By configuring the linear touch portion (321) in a sawtooth shape, the surface that contacts the terminal of the small secondary battery is made to have multiple lines in contact, so that when the surface of the terminal and the surface of the PCB-type probe come into contact, the contact area itself is reduced, but the accuracy of the contact can be increased.

[0057] Next, the carrier (400) is described.

[0058] The carrier (400) is configured to hold a plurality of small secondary batteries and is composed of a small secondary battery pass-through hole (410) and a small secondary battery support hole (420), and is detachably connected so that by replacing the carrier, the small secondary battery that has been inspected can be replaced with another small secondary battery for inspection.

[0059] When a small secondary battery is inserted from above into the small secondary battery passage hole (410), the small secondary battery passes through and goes down to the small secondary battery support hole (420). The small secondary battery support hole (420) is configured to divide a hole similar in size to the bottom surface of the small secondary battery into 2 to 4 parts, and supports the small secondary battery that has come down through the small secondary battery passage hole (410) so that it does not fall out further.

[0060] The small secondary battery support hole (420) is configured to be sized so that a lifting pin (130) can enter it. When the lifting pin (130) of the support part (100) rises, the lifting pin (130) passes through the small secondary battery support hole (420) and pushes the small secondary battery upward, providing a space for the small secondary battery to rise to the clamping part (200).

[0062] Next, the operation process of the present invention will be explained.

[0063] First, the carrier (400) is moved so that it is positioned between the support part (100) and the clamping part (200). Then, when the lower cylinder shaft (111) is raised by the operation of the lower cylinder (110) of the support part (100), the support (120) rises, and the rising pin (130) on top passes through the small secondary battery support hole (420) and pushes the small secondary battery upward, so that the small secondary battery passes through the upper clamp (210) of the clamping part (200) and the clamping groove (250) of the lower clamp (230) and is positioned.

[0064] Next, when the first moving bar (220) and the second moving bar (240) move in a direction facing each other, the upper clamp (210) and the lower clamp (230) move and grip the small secondary battery together to fix it vertically.

[0065] Next, the probe (320) of the inspection unit (300) descends toward the fixed small secondary battery by the operation of the upper cylinder (310) and contacts the small secondary battery terminal to perform IR / OCV inspection.

[0066] When the inspection is finished, the inspection unit (300) is raised by the operation of the upper cylinder (310), and the first moving bar (220) and the second moving bar (240) of the clamping unit (200) move in opposite directions, and the support unit (100) is lowered by the operation of the lower cylinder (110), so that the small secondary battery that has finished the inspection can be replaced with the next small secondary battery to be inspected by methods such as replacing the carrier (400).

[0067] Although specific embodiments have been described in the detailed description of the present invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention, such as increasing the number of probes in the inspection unit and increasing the clamping grooves of the upper clamping and lower clamping to enable inspection of a number of small secondary batteries. Explanation of the symbols

[0068] 100 Support part 110 Lower cylinder 111 Lower cylinder shaft 120 base 130 lifting pin 200 Clamping part 210 Upper clamp 220 First movable bar 230 Lower clamp 240 Second movable bar 250 Clamping groove 300 Inspection unit 310 Upper cylinder 311 Upper cylinder shaft 320 Probe 321 IR Measurement Pin 322 OCV Measurement Pin 330 Cartridge 340 Anti-contact Block 400 Carrier 410 Small secondary battery pass-through hole 420 Small secondary battery support hole

Claims

Claim 1 IR / OCV inspection device for a small secondary battery, comprising: a support member that supports the inspection device from below and pushes the small secondary battery to be inspected upward; a clamping member located on the upper part of the support member and fixing the small secondary battery; and an inspection member located on the upper part of the clamping member and inspecting the small secondary battery to be inspected fixed to the clamping member; wherein the clamping member is composed of an upper clamp that fixes the small secondary battery from above and a lower clamp that fixes the small secondary battery from below. Claim 2 IR / OCV inspection device for a small secondary battery according to claim 1, characterized in that the support member comprises a cylinder having a cylinder shaft, a support, and a plurality of lifting pins for pushing up a small secondary battery on the support. Claim 3 delete Claim 4 IR / OCV inspection device for a small secondary battery according to claim 1, characterized in that the upper clamp and the lower clamp have one side open and are provided with a plurality of clamping grooves in which a small secondary battery to be inspected is received along the longitudinal direction of the upper surface of the small secondary battery. Claim 5 IR / OCV inspection device for a small secondary battery according to claim 1 or 4, wherein the upper clamp is driven by a first moving bar and the lower clamp is driven by a second moving bar, and the first moving bar and the second moving bar are driven in opposite directions. Claim 6 IR / OCV inspection device for a small secondary battery according to claim 1, characterized in that the inspection unit comprises a probe and a probe cartridge that fixes and makes the probe replaceable. Claim 7 In claim 6, the IR / OCV inspection device for a small secondary battery is characterized in that the probe is composed of two probes that contact two small secondary battery terminals, each probe having two touch points. Claim 8 In claim 6, the IR / OCV inspection device for a small secondary battery is characterized in that the probe has a plurality of pins arranged side by side at a position contacting two small secondary battery terminals, and alternately arranges IR measurement pins for IR measurement and OCV measurement pins for OCV measurement. Claim 9 In claim 8, the IR / OCV inspection device for a small secondary battery is characterized in that the width of two adjacent pins of the probe is smaller than or equal to the width of the small secondary battery terminal. Claim 10 IR / OCV inspection device for a small secondary battery according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the probe has a contact prevention block that prevents the probe, which does not directly contact the small secondary battery terminal, from contacting the main body of the small secondary battery. Claim 11 An IR / OCV inspection device for a small secondary battery according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the probes alternately have three IR measurement pins for IR measurement and three OCV measurement pins for OCV measurement. Claim 12 In claim 6, the probe is formed using copper foil of a PCB substrate and includes two rows of touch portions that extend linearly along the longitudinal direction of the surface on which the terminal of the small secondary battery is formed to contact the small secondary battery terminal, wherein one of the two rows of touch portions measures an IR value and the other row of touch portions measures an OCV value. Claim 13 In claim 12, the IR / OCV inspection device for a small secondary battery is characterized in that the touch portions of the two rows are each formed in a sawtooth shape.

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