Helium leak detection system and method

Abstract

Disclosed in the present disclosure are a helium leak detection system and method. A control device controls a loading manipulator to transfer a battery cell to a first main inspection cavity and controls a corresponding first vacuum valve to open; the first main inspection cavity is vacuumized by means of a first vacuum pump, and after the completion of vacuumizing, the first vacuum valve is closed; and gross leak detection is performed on the battery cell by means of a first negative pressure meter. When the gross leak detection is passed, a second vacuum valve is controlled to open to start a second vacuum pump to vacuumize the battery cell; after the completion of vacuumizing, a first helium-injection valve of a helium pipe is controlled to open, so as to inject helium into the battery cell; and after the completion of helium injection, the first helium-injection valve is closed, and helium leak detection is performed on the battery cell by means of a first helium leak detector to complete main inspection of the battery cell. When the gross leak detection is not passed, a vacuum breaker valve is opened, and vacuum breaking is performed on the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity by means of an atmosphere pipe; and an unloading manipulator is controlled to transfer the battery cell to a re-inspection cavity for re-inspection. Thus, the utilization rate of vacuum resources and helium resources can be increased, and the inspection efficiency is improved.

Description

Helium detection system and method

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This disclosure is based on and claims the priority of Chinese patent application with application number 202410246365.6, application date March 5, 2024, and invention name “Helium Detection System and Method”. The entire content of this Chinese patent application is hereby incorporated into this disclosure as a reference. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to the field of battery technology, and in particular to a helium detection system and method. Background Art

[0004] Helium testing is a necessary step in the lithium battery production process. By measuring the helium content inside the battery, it is possible to determine whether the battery is leaking, promptly discover battery hidden dangers, and prevent safety accidents such as battery explosions. It can effectively test battery safety. However, in the current helium testing process, there is still a waste of vacuum and helium resources, resulting in low detection efficiency.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a helium detection system and method, which can improve the utilization rate of vacuum resources and helium resources, thereby improving detection efficiency.

[0007] The technical solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure is implemented as follows:

[0008] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a helium inspection system, including a control device, a loading robot, a main inspection chamber, a first vacuum pump, a first vacuum valve, a second vacuum pump, a second vacuum valve, a first negative pressure gauge, a helium pipeline, a first helium injection valve, a first helium detector, an unloading robot, and a re-inspection chamber;

[0009] a control device for controlling the loading robot to transfer the battery cell to the first main inspection chamber, and controlling the first vacuum valve corresponding to the first main inspection chamber to open, and evacuating the first main inspection chamber by the first vacuum pump; and when the first main inspection chamber is evacuated, closing the first vacuum valve, and performing a major leak test on the battery cell by using the first negative pressure gauge; and when the result of the major leak test is that the test has passed, controlling the second vacuum valve to open, and evacuating the battery cell by using the second vacuum pump; and when the battery cell is evacuated, controlling the first helium injection valve of the helium pipeline to open, and injecting helium into the battery cell; and when the helium injection is completed, closing the first helium injection valve, and performing a helium test on the battery cell by using the first helium detector, thereby completing the main inspection operation on the battery cell;

[0010] The control device is also used to control the vacuum breaker valve to open and breaker the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection chamber through the atmospheric pipe when the test result of the major leak test is failure; and control the unloading robot to transfer the battery cell to the re-inspection chamber for re-inspection; wherein the re-inspection includes the re-inspection of the major leak test and the re-inspection of the helium test;

[0011] The first main inspection cavity is any idle cavity among the multiple main inspection cavities; the first vacuum valve is connected to the first vacuum pump; and the second vacuum valve is connected to the second vacuum pump.

[0012] In this embodiment, the control device can control the loading robot to transfer the battery cell to any idle first main inspection cavity among the multiple main inspection cavities, and then open the first vacuum valve connected to the first vacuum pump, so that the first vacuum pump can be used to evacuate the first main inspection cavity, and after the vacuum is evacuated, the first vacuum valve is closed to perform a major leak test on the battery cell, which can effectively reduce the waste of vacuum resources and improve the efficiency of major leak detection; and then, if the major leak test passes, the second vacuum valve can be controlled to open, and the second vacuum pump can be used to evacuate the battery cell, and then the first helium injection valve of the helium pipeline can be controlled to open to inject helium into the battery cell to complete the major leak test. The helium inspection is completed and the first helium injection valve is closed. If the large leak detection fails, the vacuum breaking valve is controlled to open, so that after the vacuum breaking of the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity is completed, the unloading robot is controlled to take the battery cell out of the first main inspection cavity and transfer it to the re-inspection cavity for re-inspection, which can effectively reduce the waste of vacuum resources and helium resources during the helium inspection process and improve the helium inspection efficiency. It can be seen that the present disclosure can improve the utilization rate of vacuum resources and helium resources in the main inspection process and effectively improve the inspection efficiency of large leak detection and helium inspection of battery cells by controlling and scheduling the action execution of related devices in the main inspection process.

[0013] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the helium detection system further includes a host computer and a helium detection valve, wherein the helium detection valve is connected to the first helium detector;

[0014] The control device is further used to control the opening of the helium detection valve corresponding to the first helium detector and send a helium detection request to the upper computer;

[0015] The host computer is used to send a helium detection instruction to the control device in response to the helium detection request;

[0016] The control device is further configured to control the first helium detector to perform a helium test on the battery cell in response to the helium test instruction; and to close the helium test valve when the helium test is completed.

[0017] In this embodiment, when controlling the execution of helium inspection on the battery cell, the control device can first open the helium inspection valve corresponding to the first helium detector and send a helium inspection request to the host computer. Then, after receiving the helium inspection instruction feedback from the host computer, the control device can control the first helium detector to perform helium inspection on the battery cell, and close the helium inspection valve when the helium inspection is completed, thereby improving the helium inspection efficiency.

[0018] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the helium detection system further includes a main valve;

[0019] The control device is further used to control the opening of the second vacuum valve and the main valve to start the second vacuum pump to evacuate the battery cell; and to close the second vacuum valve when the battery cell is evacuated.

[0020] The control device is also used to close the main valve when the first helium injection valve is closed.

[0021] In this embodiment, the control device can start the second vacuum pump by opening the second vacuum valve and the main valve, thereby performing a vacuum operation on the battery cell, and after completing the helium injection operation on the battery cell, close the first helium injection valve and the main valve. This can reasonably plan the relevant operations of the battery cell vacuum pumping and helium injection operation process, and improve the operational efficiency of the battery cell vacuum pumping and helium injection.

[0022] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the helium detection system further includes an atmospheric pipeline and a vacuum breaker valve connected to the atmospheric pipeline;

[0023] The control device is also used to control the opening of the second vacuum valve and the main valve, and use the second vacuum pump to extract the helium in the battery cell; and when the helium in the battery cell is completely cleaned, close the second vacuum valve; and control the opening of the vacuum breaking valve to break the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity through the atmospheric pipe.

[0024] In this embodiment, the control device can open the second vacuum valve and the main valve, thereby using the second vacuum pump to suck the helium in the battery cell, and after cleaning the helium, close the second vacuum valve and open the vacuum breaking valve connected to the atmospheric pipe, thereby breaking the vacuum environment of the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity, which can improve the execution efficiency of helium cleaning and vacuum breaking.

[0025] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the helium inspection system further includes a re-inspection robot, a first buffer position, and a first blanking pull belt;

[0026] The control device is also used to control the re-inspection robot to transfer the battery cell from the re-inspection cavity to the first cache position when the re-inspection result of the battery cell is passed; and to control the unloading robot to transfer the battery cell from the first cache position to the first unloading pull belt for unloading.

[0027] In this embodiment, the control device can control the re-inspection robot to transfer the battery cells that have passed the re-inspection to the first unloading pull belt, thereby realizing unloading of the battery cells that have passed the re-inspection.

[0028] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the helium detection system further includes a drop level;

[0029] The control device is also used to transfer the battery cells from the first main inspection cavity to the unloading position when the helium inspection result is that the inspection has passed, and control the unloading robot to transfer the battery cells on the unloading position to the first unloading pull belt for unloading; and to control the unloading robot to transfer the battery cells from the first main inspection cavity to the re-inspection cavity for re-inspection when the helium inspection result is that the inspection has failed.

[0030] In this embodiment, when the battery cell passes the major leak test and helium test of the main inspection, the control device can transfer the battery cell from the first main inspection cavity to the unloading position, and then transfer the battery cell on the unloading position to the first unloading pull belt through the unloading robot to complete the unloading; in addition, when the battery cell passes the major leak test but fails the helium test, the battery cell that fails the helium test can be transferred from the first main inspection cavity to the re-inspection cavity for re-inspection, thereby achieving a more comprehensive helium inspection of the battery cell.

[0031] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the helium detection system further includes a second blanking pull belt;

[0032] The control device is also used to control the re-inspection robot to transfer the battery cell from the re-inspection cavity to the second unloading pull belt for unloading when the re-inspection result of the battery cell is that the re-inspection fails.

[0033] In this embodiment, the control device may further transfer the battery cells that have not passed the re-inspection to the second unloading pull belt, thereby unloading the battery cells that have not passed the re-inspection through the second unloading pull belt.

[0034] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the helium detection system further includes a detection device and a loading belt; the main detection cavity includes an upper cavity and a lower cavity;

[0035] The control device is also used to control the loading robot to transfer the battery cells on the loading pull belt to the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity and to close the upper cavity and lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity when receiving the pressure test pass information sent by the detection device; and when the cavity closing is completed, control the first vacuum valve to open to complete the vacuum operation of the first main inspection cavity.

[0036] In this embodiment, the control device can respond to the voltage test pass information sent by the detection device, thereby controlling the loading robot to transfer the battery cells that have passed the voltage test on the loading pull belt to the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity, and then merge the lower cavity and the upper cavity of the first main inspection cavity. After the cavities are merged, a vacuum operation is performed to complete the main inspection process, which can improve the reliability of the main inspection.

[0037] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the helium detection system further includes a third blanking pull belt;

[0038] The control device is also used to control the loading robot to transfer the battery cells on the loading pull belt to the third unloading pull belt for unloading when receiving the voltage test failure information sent by the detection device.

[0039] In this embodiment, the control device can also control the loading robot to transfer the battery cells that have not passed the voltage test on the loading pull belt to the third unloading pull belt, thereby realizing the unloading of the battery cells that have not passed the voltage test.

[0040] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control device is further configured to control the first vacuum valve to open when the number of battery cells in the first main inspection cavity reaches a first number, so as to complete the main inspection operation on the first number of battery cells.

[0041] In this embodiment, the control device can control the loading robot to transfer a first number of battery cells from the loading pull belt to the first main inspection cavity. When the control device determines that the number of battery cells in the first main inspection cavity reaches the first number, the first vacuum valve can be opened to complete the main inspection operation of the first number of battery cells in the first main inspection cavity, thereby improving the inspection efficiency.

[0042] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a helium detection method, which is applied to a helium detection system. The method includes:

[0043] The control device controls the loading robot to transfer the battery cell to the first main inspection chamber, controls the first vacuum valve corresponding to the first main inspection chamber to open, and evacuates the first main inspection chamber through the first vacuum pump; wherein the first main inspection chamber is any idle chamber among the multiple main inspection chambers; the first vacuum valve is connected to the first vacuum pump;

[0044] When the first main inspection chamber is evacuated, the control device closes the first vacuum valve and performs a major leak test on the battery cell using the first negative pressure gauge;

[0045] When the result of the major leak detection is that the detection has passed, the control device controls the second vacuum valve to open, so as to start the second vacuum pump to evacuate the battery cell; wherein the second vacuum valve is connected to the second vacuum pump;

[0046] When the battery cell is evacuated, the control device controls the first helium injection valve of the helium pipeline to open, so as to inject helium into the battery cell;

[0047] When the helium injection is completed, the control device closes the first helium injection valve and performs a helium inspection on the battery cell using the first helium detector to complete the main inspection operation of the battery cell;

[0048] When the result of the major leak detection is failure, the control device controls the vacuum breaker valve corresponding to the atmospheric pipeline to open, thereby breaking the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity through the atmospheric pipeline;

[0049] The control device controls the unloading robot to transfer the battery cells to the re-inspection chamber for re-inspection; wherein, the re-inspection includes the re-inspection of large leak detection and the re-inspection of helium detection.

[0050] In this embodiment, the control device can control the loading robot to transfer the battery cell to any idle first main inspection cavity among the multiple main inspection cavities, and then open the first vacuum valve connected to the first vacuum pump, so that the first vacuum pump can be used to evacuate the first main inspection cavity, and after the vacuum is evacuated, the first vacuum valve is closed to perform a major leak test on the battery cell, which can effectively reduce the waste of vacuum resources and improve the efficiency of major leak detection; and then, if the major leak test passes, the second vacuum valve can be controlled to open, and the second vacuum pump can be used to evacuate the battery cell, and then the first helium injection valve of the helium pipeline can be controlled to open to inject helium into the battery cell to complete the major leak test. The helium inspection is completed and the first helium injection valve is closed. If the large leak detection fails, the vacuum breaking valve is controlled to open, so that after the vacuum breaking of the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity is completed, the unloading robot is controlled to take the battery cell out of the first main inspection cavity and transfer it to the re-inspection cavity for re-inspection, which can effectively reduce the waste of vacuum resources and helium resources during the helium inspection process and improve the helium inspection efficiency. It can be seen that the present disclosure can improve the utilization rate of vacuum resources and helium resources in the main inspection process and effectively improve the inspection efficiency of large leak detection and helium inspection of battery cells by controlling and scheduling the action execution of related devices in the main inspection process.

[0051] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, performing helium testing on a battery cell using a first helium tester includes:

[0052] The control device controls the helium detection valve corresponding to the first helium detector to open, and sends a helium detection request to the upper computer;

[0053] The host computer responds to the helium detection request and sends a helium detection instruction to the control device;

[0054] The control device controls the first helium detector to perform a helium test on the battery cell in response to the helium test instruction;

[0055] When the helium detection is completed, the control device closes the helium detection valve.

[0056] In this embodiment, when controlling the execution of helium inspection on the battery cell, the control device can first open the helium inspection valve corresponding to the first helium detector and send a helium inspection request to the host computer. Then, after receiving the helium inspection instruction feedback from the host computer, the control device can control the first helium detector to perform helium inspection on the battery cell, and close the helium inspection valve when the helium inspection is completed, thereby improving the helium inspection efficiency.

[0057] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the method further includes:

[0058] The control device controls the second vacuum valve and the main valve to open, so as to start the second vacuum pump to evacuate the battery cell;

[0059] When the vacuum of the battery cell is completed, the control device closes the second vacuum valve.

[0060] In this embodiment, the control device can start the second vacuum pump by opening the second vacuum valve and the main valve, thereby performing a vacuum operation on the battery cell. This can reasonably plan the related operations of vacuuming the battery cell and improve the operational efficiency of vacuuming the battery cell.

[0061] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, after the control device closes the helium detection valve when the helium detection is completed, the method further includes:

[0062] The control device controls the second vacuum valve and the main valve to open, and uses the second vacuum pump to extract the helium in the battery cell;

[0063] The control device closes the second vacuum valve when the helium in the battery cell is completely purged;

[0064] The control device controls the vacuum breaking valve corresponding to the atmospheric pipeline to open, breaking the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity.

[0065] In this embodiment, the control device can also open the second vacuum valve and the main valve, thereby using the second vacuum pump to suck the helium in the battery cell, and after cleaning the helium, close the second vacuum valve and open the vacuum breaking valve connected to the atmospheric pipe, thereby breaking the vacuum environment of the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity, which can improve the execution efficiency of helium cleaning and vacuum breaking.

[0066] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, after the control device controls the unloading robot to transfer the battery cell to the re-inspection chamber for re-inspection, the method further includes:

[0067] When the re-inspection result of the battery cell is that the re-inspection has passed, the control device controls the re-inspection robot to transfer the battery cell from the re-inspection cavity to the first cache position;

[0068] The control device controls the unloading robot to transfer the battery cell from the first cache position to the first unloading pull belt for unloading.

[0069] In this embodiment, the control device can control the re-inspection robot to transfer the battery cells that have passed the re-inspection to the first unloading pull belt, thereby realizing unloading of the battery cells that have passed the re-inspection.

[0070] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, after the control device controls the vacuum breaker valve corresponding to the atmospheric pipe to open and the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity is broken, the method further includes:

[0071] If the helium inspection result is passed, the control device transfers the battery cell from the first main inspection cavity to the unloading position, and controls the unloading manipulator to transfer the battery cell on the unloading position to the first unloading pull belt for unloading;

[0072] When the helium inspection result is failure, the control device controls the unloading robot to transfer the battery cell from the first main inspection chamber to the re-inspection chamber for re-inspection.

[0073] In this embodiment, when the battery cell passes the major leak test and helium test of the main inspection, the control device can transfer the battery cell from the first main inspection cavity to the unloading position, and then transfer the battery cell on the unloading position to the first unloading pull belt through the unloading robot to complete the unloading; in addition, when the battery cell passes the major leak test but fails the helium test, the battery cell that fails the helium test can be transferred from the first main inspection cavity to the re-inspection cavity for re-inspection, thereby achieving a more comprehensive helium inspection of the battery cell.

[0074] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the method further includes:

[0075] When the re-inspection result of the battery cell is failure, the control device controls the re-inspection robot to transfer the battery cell from the re-inspection cavity to the second unloading pull belt for unloading.

[0076] In this embodiment, the control device may further transfer the battery cells that have not passed the re-inspection to the second unloading pull belt, thereby unloading the battery cells that have not passed the re-inspection through the second unloading pull belt.

[0077] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the method further includes:

[0078] Upon receiving the information that the withstand voltage test has passed from the detection device, the control device controls the loading robot to transfer the battery cells on the loading pull belt to the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity and close the upper cavity and the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity;

[0079] When the cavity closing is completed, the control device controls the first vacuum valve to open, so as to complete the vacuuming operation of the first main inspection cavity.

[0080] In this embodiment, the control device can respond to the voltage test pass information sent by the detection device, thereby controlling the loading robot to transfer the battery cells that have passed the voltage test on the loading pull belt to the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity, and then merge the lower cavity and the upper cavity of the first main inspection cavity. After the cavities are merged, a vacuum operation is performed to complete the main inspection process, which can improve the reliability of the main inspection.

[0081] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the method further includes:

[0082] When receiving the information that the withstand voltage test fails from the detection device, the control device controls the loading robot to transfer the battery cells on the loading pull belt to the third unloading pull belt for unloading.

[0083] In this embodiment, the control device can also control the loading robot to transfer the battery cells that have not passed the voltage test on the loading pull belt to the third unloading pull belt, thereby realizing the unloading of the battery cells that have not passed the voltage test.

[0084] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the method further includes:

[0085] The control device controls the loading robot to transfer a first number of battery cells from the loading belt to the first main inspection cavity;

[0086] When the number of battery cells in the first main inspection cavity reaches a first number, the control device controls the first vacuum valve to open, so as to complete the main inspection operation on the first number of battery cells.

[0087] In this embodiment, the control device can control the loading robot to transfer a first number of battery cells from the loading pull belt to the first main inspection cavity. When the control device determines that the number of battery cells in the first main inspection cavity reaches the first number, the first vacuum valve can be opened to complete the main inspection operation of the first number of battery cells in the first main inspection cavity, thereby improving the inspection efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0088] Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the detailed description of the preferred embodiment below.The accompanying drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiment and are not to be considered as limiting the present disclosure.

[0089] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the first structure of the helium detection system proposed in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0090] FIG2 is a second schematic diagram of the structure of the helium detection system proposed in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0091] FIG3 is a third schematic diagram of the structure of the helium detection system proposed in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0092] FIG4 is a fourth schematic diagram of the structure of the helium detection system proposed in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0093] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a simulation of a helium detection method proposed in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0094] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of the implementation process of the helium detection method proposed in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0095] FIG7 is a timing diagram of the main inspection process proposed in an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0096] The following will be combined with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to illustrate the relevant disclosure and are not intended to limit the disclosure. It should also be noted that for ease of description, only the portions relevant to the relevant disclosure are shown in the drawings.

[0097] New energy batteries are increasingly being used in everyday life and industry. For example, battery-powered new energy vehicles are already widely used, and batteries are also increasingly being applied to energy storage. New energy batteries are not only used in energy storage power systems such as hydropower, thermal power, wind power, and solar power stations, but are also widely used in electric vehicles such as electric bicycles, electric motorcycles, and electric vehicles, as well as in aerospace and other fields. As the application areas of power batteries continue to expand, their market demand is also growing.

[0098] At present, the process of manufacturing batteries involves helium inspection of battery cells. However, in the helium inspection process, there is still a waste of vacuum resources and helium resources, as well as low inspection efficiency. Improving the efficiency of helium inspection can reduce production costs, detect helium leaks more comprehensively and accurately, ensure product quality, reduce the chance of unqualified products entering the market, and improve the safety of lithium batteries. Therefore, how to improve the inspection efficiency of helium inspection is an urgent problem to be solved. In order to solve the problems existing in the current helium inspection, the embodiment of the present disclosure provides a helium inspection system and method. The control device in the helium inspection system can control the loading robot to transfer the battery cell to any idle first main inspection cavity among multiple main inspection cavities, and then open the first vacuum valve connected to the first vacuum pump, so that the first vacuum valve can be used to transfer the battery cell to any idle first main inspection cavity among multiple main inspection cavities. The empty pump evacuates the first main inspection chamber, and closes the first vacuum valve after the vacuum is exhausted, and the battery cell is subjected to a major leak test, which can effectively reduce the waste of vacuum resources and improve the efficiency of the major leak test; and then, if the major leak test is passed, the second vacuum valve can be controlled to open, and the second vacuum pump can be used to evacuate the battery cell, and then the first helium injection valve of the helium pipeline is controlled to open, and helium is injected into the battery cell to complete the helium test, and the first helium injection valve is closed, which can effectively reduce the waste of vacuum resources and helium resources during the helium test process and improve the efficiency of the helium test; it can be seen that the present disclosure can improve the utilization rate of vacuum resources and helium resources in the main inspection process and effectively improve the detection efficiency of the major leak test and helium test of the battery cell by controlling and scheduling the action execution of the major leak test and the helium test in the main inspection process.

[0099] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0100] The description of the system in the embodiment of the present disclosure is similar to the description of the method embodiment below, and has similar beneficial effects as the method embodiment. For technical details not disclosed in the method embodiment, please refer to the description of the system embodiment of the present disclosure for understanding.

[0101] An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a helium inspection system. As shown in FIG1 , the helium inspection system 0 may include a control device 1, a loading robot 2, a main inspection chamber 3, a first vacuum pump 4, a first vacuum valve 5, a second vacuum pump 6, a second vacuum valve 7, a first negative pressure gauge 8, a helium pipeline 9, a first helium injection valve 10, a first helium detector 11, an unloading robot 17, and a re-inspection chamber 18; wherein, there may be multiple main inspection chambers 3.

[0102] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the battery cell may be the core part of the battery, and the battery may be assembled from one or more battery cells; the battery may be a battery cell. A battery cell refers to a basic unit that can realize the mutual conversion of chemical energy and electrical energy, and can be used to make a battery module or battery pack, thereby being used to supply power to electrical devices. The battery cell may be a secondary battery, which refers to a battery cell that can be activated by charging the active material after the battery cell is discharged and can continue to be used. The battery cell may be a lithium-ion battery, a sodium-ion battery, a sodium-lithium-ion battery, a lithium metal battery, a sodium metal battery, a lithium-sulfur battery, a magnesium-ion battery, a nickel-hydrogen battery, a nickel-cadmium battery, a lead-acid battery, etc., and the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to this.

[0103] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the battery may also be a single physical module including one or more battery cells to provide higher voltage and capacity. When there are multiple battery cells, the multiple battery cells are connected in series, in parallel or in hybrid via a busbar.

[0104] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the control device 1 may be a programmable logic controller (PLC).

[0105] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the loading robot 2 can be used to grab the battery cells from the loading belt 25 and transfer them to the first main inspection cavity.

[0106] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first main inspection chamber is any idle chamber among the multiple main inspection chambers 3; the number of the multiple main inspection chambers 3 is not limited in the present disclosure. For example, as shown in FIG. 2 , the helium inspection system 0 may include four main inspection chambers 3.

[0107] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the control device 1 can be used to control the loading robot 2 to transfer the battery cell to the first main inspection chamber, and control the first vacuum valve 5 corresponding to the first main inspection chamber to open, and evacuate the first main inspection chamber through the first vacuum pump 4; and when the first main inspection chamber is evacuated, close the first vacuum valve 5, and perform a major leak test on the battery cell through the first negative pressure gauge 8; and when the result of the major leak test is that the test passes, control the second vacuum valve 7 to open to start the second vacuum pump 6 to evacuate the battery cell; and when the battery cell is evacuated, control the first helium injection valve 10 of the helium pipeline 9 to open to inject helium into the battery cell; and when the helium injection is completed, close the first helium injection valve 10, and perform helium inspection on the battery cell through the first helium detector 11 to complete the main inspection operation of the battery cell.

[0108] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, a vacuum pump refers to a device or apparatus that obtains a vacuum by evacuating an evacuated container using mechanical, physical, chemical, or physicochemical methods. The present disclosure does not limit the first vacuum pump 4 and the second vacuum pump 6; for example, the first vacuum pump 4 can be any one of a D60C vacuum pump and a D16C vacuum pump, and the second vacuum pump 6 can also be any one of a D60C vacuum pump and a D16C vacuum pump.

[0109] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first negative pressure gauge is an elastic sensitive element whose absolute pressure is lower than the atmospheric pressure. The first negative pressure gauge can be used to perform a pressure test on the battery cells in the first main inspection cavity after vacuuming. When the decrease in the measured pressure data of the battery cells compared with the pressure data before vacuuming is greater than a preset decrease parameter, it indicates that there is a leakage in the battery cells, and the test result of the major leakage detection is failure; otherwise, the test result of the major leakage detection is pass.

[0110] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first vacuum valve 5 is connected to the first vacuum pump 4 ; the second vacuum valve 7 is connected to the second vacuum pump 6 .

[0111] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG3 , the helium detection system 0 may further include a host computer 12 and a helium detection valve 13 ; the helium detection valve 13 is connected to the first helium detector 11 .

[0112] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first helium detector 11 can be used to detect the concentration of helium molecules in the first main inspection cavity. When the detected helium molecule concentration value is greater than a preset reference value, it indicates that there is a micro-leakage in the battery cell, causing the helium gas injected into the battery cell to enter the first main inspection cavity, thereby determining that the detection result of the helium detection is failure, otherwise the detection result of the helium detection is passing. The present disclosure does not limit the type of the first helium detector 11. For example, the first helium detector 11 can adopt a helium mass spectrometer leak detector.

[0113] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the host computer 12 refers to a computer that can directly issue control commands, for example, a personal computer (PC) or a host computer.

[0114] The control device 1 can also be used to control the opening of the helium detection valve 13 corresponding to the first helium detector 11 and send a helium detection request to the host computer 12 .

[0115] It is understandable that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first helium detector 11 is in an operating state only when the helium detection valve 13 is opened, so that the helium molecule concentration can be detected.

[0116] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the host computer 12 may be configured to send a helium detection instruction to the control device 1 in response to a helium detection request.

[0117] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the control device 1 may also be configured to control the first helium detector 11 to perform helium inspection on the battery cell in response to a helium inspection instruction; and to close the helium inspection valve 13 when the helium inspection is completed.

[0118] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 4 , the helium detection system 0 may further include a main valve 14 .

[0119] The control device 1 can also be used to control the opening of the second vacuum valve 7 and the main valve 14 to start the second vacuum pump 6 to evacuate the battery cell; and to close the second vacuum valve 7 when the battery cell is evacuated.

[0120] It should be noted that the second vacuum pump 6 can only be started when both the second vacuum valve 7 and the main valve 14 are open. When either the second vacuum valve 7 or the main valve 14 is open, the second vacuum pump 6 cannot be started.

[0121] The control device 1 can also be used to close the main valve 14 when the first helium injection valve 10 is closed.

[0122] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 4 , the helium detection system 0 may further include an atmospheric pipeline 15 and a vacuum breaker valve 16 connected to the atmospheric pipeline 15 .

[0123] The control device 1 can also be used to control the opening of the second vacuum valve 7 and the main valve 14, and use the second vacuum pump 6 to extract the helium in the battery cell; and when the helium in the battery cell is cleaned, close the second vacuum valve 7; and control the vacuum breaking valve 16 to open, and break the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity through the atmospheric pipe 15.

[0124] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the vacuum breaker valve 16 may include a battery cell vacuum breaker valve and a cavity vacuum breaker valve; wherein, the battery cell vacuum breaker valve and the cavity vacuum breaker valve can both be connected to the atmospheric pipe 15; the battery cell vacuum breaker valve can be used to break the vacuum of the battery cell, and the cavity vacuum breaker valve can be used to break the vacuum of the first main inspection cavity.

[0125] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, after the helium inspection, regardless of whether the helium inspection is passed or not, a vacuum breaking operation needs to be performed before the battery cells in the first main inspection cavity can be taken out.

[0126] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, after the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity is broken, the first main inspection cavity can be opened, that is, the upper cavity and the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity are opened, and the battery cell located on the lower cavity is taken out using the unloading robot 17.

[0127] It is understandable that in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the vacuum valve, helium injection valve, helium detection valve, main valve, vacuum breaker valve, etc. are all valves or accessories used to open and close corresponding pipelines or equipment.

[0128] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, FIG5 is a simulation diagram of the helium inspection method proposed in the embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG2 , FIG3 , FIG4 and FIG5 , the helium inspection system may further include a blanking robot 17 and a re-inspection cavity 18 .

[0129] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of the re-inspection cavities 18 is not limited in the present disclosure; for example, the number of the re-inspection cavities 18 may be 2.

[0130] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of battery cells that the re-inspection cavity 18 can accommodate is a second number, and the present disclosure does not limit the second number. For example, the second number can be 4, that is, the re-inspection cavity 18 can accommodate 4 battery cells for re-inspection at a time.

[0131] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the structure of the re-inspection chamber 18 can be the same as that of the main inspection chamber 3, and the re-inspection chamber 18 can also include a lower chamber and an upper chamber; however, the large leak detection and helium detection performed in the re-inspection chamber 18 are both re-inspections.

[0132] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, in the main inspection process of the battery cell, when the test result of either the major leak test or the helium test is failed, a re-inspection is required.

[0133] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the unloading robot 17 can be used to transfer the battery cells in the first main inspection cavity to the re-inspection cavity 18, or transfer the battery cells in the first main inspection cavity to the unloading pull belt.

[0134] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the control device 1 controls the unloading robot 17 to transfer the battery cells that have not passed the major leak detection or helium detection in the first main inspection chamber to the re-inspection chamber 18, it can first control the unloading robot 17 to transfer the battery cells that have not passed the major leak detection or helium detection in the first main inspection chamber to the defective battery cell cache position 33, and then control the re-inspection robot to transfer the battery cells that have not passed the major leak detection or helium detection on the defective battery cell cache position 33 to the re-inspection chamber 18.

[0135] The control device 1 can also be used to control the vacuum breaking valve 16 to open when the test result of the large leak detection is failure, and to break the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection chamber through the atmospheric pipe 15; and to control the unloading robot 17 to transfer the battery cell to the re-inspection chamber 18 for re-inspection; wherein the re-inspection includes the re-inspection of the large leak detection and the re-inspection of the helium detection.

[0136] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the helium inspection system 0 may further include a third vacuum valve 27, a fourth vacuum valve 28, a second negative pressure gauge 29, a second helium injection valve 30, and a second helium detector 31; wherein the third vacuum valve 27 may be connected to the first vacuum pump, and the fourth vacuum valve 28 may be connected to the second vacuum pump; when the control device 1 re-inspects the battery cell in the re-inspection cavity 18, it may control the third vacuum valve 27 corresponding to the re-inspection cavity 18 to open, and evacuate the re-inspection cavity 18 through the first vacuum pump; after the re-inspection cavity 18 is evacuated, the battery cell 18 is evacuated to the second vacuum pump. In this case, the third vacuum valve 27 is closed, and the battery cell is re-inspected for a major leak test through the second negative pressure gauge 29; when the test result of the re-inspection of the major leak test is that the test has passed, the fourth vacuum valve 28 can be controlled to open to start the second vacuum pump to evacuate the battery cell; and when the vacuuming of the battery cell is completed, the second helium injection valve 30 is controlled to open to inject helium into the battery cell; and when the helium injection is completed, the second helium injection valve 30 is closed, and the battery cell is re-inspected for helium test through the second helium detector 31 to complete the re-inspection operation of the battery cell.

[0137] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the second negative pressure gauge 29 can be used to perform a pressure test on the battery cells in the re-inspection cavity 18 after vacuuming. When the decrease in the measured pressure data of the battery cells compared with the pressure data before vacuuming is greater than the preset decrease parameter, it indicates that there is a leakage in the battery cells, and the test result of the re-inspection of the major leak detection is failure; otherwise, the test result of the re-inspection of the major leak detection is passing.

[0138] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the second helium injection valve 30 may be connected to the helium pipeline 9 , so that when the second helium injection valve 30 is opened, helium may be injected into the battery cells in the re-inspection cavity 18 through the helium pipeline 9 .

[0139] It can be understood that in the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the battery cell fails the major leak detection, since the battery cell needs to be taken out from the first main inspection cavity for re-inspection, it is necessary to break the vacuum of the first main inspection cavity and the battery cell, and then control the unloading robot 17 to take out the battery cell.

[0140] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in Figure 5, the helium inspection system may further include a re-inspection robot 19, a first cache position 20, a first unloading pull belt 21, an unloading position 22, a second unloading pull belt 23, a detection device 24, a loading pull belt 25 and a third unloading pull belt 26; in addition, as shown in Figure 4, the helium inspection system may further include a helium recovery pipeline 34, which can be used to recover the helium sucked out from the battery cell, and may also include a nitrogen pipeline 35 and a nitrogen helium cleaning valve 351. When the control device 1 opens the nitrogen helium cleaning valve 351, the nitrogen pipeline 35 can be used to clean the battery cell.

[0141] The control device 1 can also be used to control the re-inspection robot 19 to transfer the battery cell from the re-inspection cavity 18 to the first cache position 20 when the re-inspection result of the battery cell is passed; and control the unloading robot 17 to transfer the battery cell from the first cache position 20 to the first unloading pull belt 21 for unloading.

[0142] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first cache location 20 may be used to store battery cells that have passed re-inspection.

[0143] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the test results corresponding to the re-inspection of the major leak detection and the test results corresponding to the re-inspection of the helium detection are both passed, the control device 1 may determine that the re-inspection result is re-inspection passed.

[0144] The control device 1 can also be used to transfer the battery cells from the first main inspection cavity to the unloading position 22 when the helium inspection result is that the inspection has passed, and control the unloading robot 17 to transfer the battery cells on the unloading position 22 to the first unloading pull belt 21 for unloading; and to control the unloading robot 17 to transfer the battery cells from the first main inspection cavity to the re-inspection cavity 18 for re-inspection when the helium inspection result is that the inspection has failed.

[0145] It can be understood that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the unloading position 22 can be used to place the battery cells that have passed the main inspection; the number of battery cells that can be accommodated on the unloading position 22 is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0146] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first blanking pull belt 21 can be used to blank the battery cells that have passed the main inspection or re-inspection.

[0147] The control device 1 can also be used to control the re-inspection robot 19 to transfer the battery cell from the re-inspection cavity 18 to the second unloading belt 23 for unloading when the re-inspection result of the battery cell is re-inspection failure.

[0148] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the second blanking pull belt 23 can be used to blank the battery cells that have not passed the re-inspection.

[0149] The detection device 24 can be used to perform a voltage withstand test on the battery cell.

[0150] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the detection device 24 may be a detection device capable of performing a withstand voltage test (Hipot); wherein the withstand voltage test may be used to detect the insulation of the battery cell to determine whether the battery cell has good insulation.

[0151] The control device 1 can also be used to control the loading robot 2 to transfer the battery cells on the loading pull belt 25 to the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity and merge the upper cavity and the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity when receiving the pressure test pass information sent by the detection device 24; and when the cavity merging is completed, control the first vacuum valve 5 to open to complete the vacuum operation of the first main inspection cavity.

[0152] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, as shown in Figure 5, the loaded battery cells can first be scanned, for example, the battery cells can be scanned by a barcode scanner, and then the battery cells can be subjected to a voltage test using the detection device 24. When the control device 1 receives the voltage test pass information sent by the detection device 24, the loading robot 2 can be controlled to transfer the battery cells on the loading pull belt 25 to the loading position 32, for example, two loading positions 32 can be included; the control device 1 can transfer the battery cells to the first main inspection cavity through the loading position 32.

[0153] The control device 1 can also be used to control the loading robot 2 to transfer the battery cells on the loading pull belt 25 to the third unloading pull belt 26 for unloading when receiving the voltage test failure information sent by the detection device 24.

[0154] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the control device 1 can also control the loading robot 2 to transfer the battery cell to the third unloading pull belt 26 for unloading when the battery cell fails the code scanning, for example, when the battery cell is a bad (NG) battery cell.

[0155] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the third blanking pull belt 26 can be used to blank the battery cells that have not passed the withstand voltage test.

[0156] The control device 1 can also be used to control the loading robot 2 to transfer a first number of battery cells from the loading pull belt 25 to the first main inspection cavity; and when the number of battery cells in the first main inspection cavity reaches a first number, control the first vacuum valve 5 to open to complete the main inspection operation on the first number of battery cells.

[0157] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first quantity is not limited in the present disclosure, for example, the first quantity can be 4, and the control device 1 can control the loading robot 2 to transfer the battery cells from the loading pull belt 25 to the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity, wherein the number of battery cells that the loading robot 2 can grasp at a time is not limited in the present disclosure, for example, it can be 4, so that after the loading robot 2 transfers 4 battery cells from the loading pull belt 25 to the first main inspection cavity and closes the first main inspection cavity, the first vacuum valve can be controlled to open, so that the main inspection operation of the 4 battery cells in the first main inspection cavity can be completed at a single time.

[0158] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, during the main inspection of a first number of battery cells in a first main inspection chamber, when there are battery cells that fail the major leak detection or the helium detection, the control device 1 can control the unloading robot to remove the battery cells that fail the major leak detection or the helium detection and transfer them to the re-inspection chamber after completing the vacuum breaking operation.

[0159] For example, if one of the four battery cells in the first main inspection chamber fails the helium inspection, the control device 1 can remove the battery cell that fails the helium inspection and transfer it to the re-inspection chamber after completing the vacuum breaking operation of the first main inspection chamber and the four battery cells.

[0160] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, during the re-inspection of the second number of battery cells in the re-inspection cavity, when there are battery cells that have not passed the re-inspection of the major leak test or the re-inspection of the helium test, the control device 1 can, after completing the vacuum breaking operation of the re-inspection cavity and the second number of battery cells therein, control the re-inspection robot 19 to take out the battery cells that have not passed the re-inspection of the major leak test or the re-inspection of the helium test and transfer them to the second unloading pull belt 23 for unloading; when there are battery cells that have passed the re-inspection of the major leak test and the re-inspection of the helium test, the control device 1 can control the re-inspection robot 19 to take out the battery cells that have passed the re-inspection of the major leak test and the re-inspection of the helium test and transfer them to the first cache position 20.

[0161] To sum up, the helium detection system in the present disclosure uses a main valve and a combined functional valve to connect vacuum pumps, negative pressure gauges and other equipment to perform helium detection methods, which can reduce the overkill rate; the first vacuum pump and the second vacuum pump can be connected in series to all main inspection chambers and re-inspection chambers, which can increase the flexibility of vacuum pump calls and the utilization rate of vacuum resources; at the same time, the first helium detector corresponds to the main inspection chamber, and the second helium detector corresponds to the re-inspection chamber, which can make full use of the helium detectors and improve the helium detection efficiency; in addition, each pipeline in the helium detection system adopts an independent pipeline design, which can reduce the helium cleaning time.

[0162] This embodiment proposes a helium detection system. The control device of the helium detection system can control the loading robot to transfer the battery cell to any idle first main inspection cavity among multiple main inspection cavities, and then open the first vacuum valve connected to the first vacuum pump, so that the first vacuum pump can be used to evacuate the first main inspection cavity, and after the vacuum is evacuated, the first vacuum valve is closed to perform a major leak detection on the battery cell, which can effectively reduce the waste of vacuum resources and improve the efficiency of major leak detection; and then, if the major leak detection passes, the second vacuum valve can be controlled to open, the second vacuum pump can be used to evacuate the battery cell, and then the first helium injection valve of the helium pipeline can be controlled to open to inject helium gas into the battery cell. Helium is injected to complete the helium inspection, and the first helium injection valve is closed. If the large leak detection fails, the vacuum breaking valve is controlled to open, so that after the vacuum is broken for the battery cell and the first main inspection chamber, the unloading robot is controlled to take the battery cell out of the first main inspection chamber and transfer it to the re-inspection chamber for re-inspection, which can effectively reduce the waste of vacuum resources and helium resources during the helium inspection process and improve the efficiency of helium inspection. It can be seen that the present disclosure can improve the utilization rate of vacuum resources and helium resources in the main inspection process by controlling and scheduling the action execution of related devices in the large leak detection and helium inspection processes in the main inspection process, and effectively improve the detection efficiency of large leak detection and helium inspection of battery cells.

[0163] Another embodiment of the present disclosure provides a helium detection method, which is applied to a helium detection system. As shown in FIG6 , the helium detection method performed by the helium detection system may include the following steps:

[0164] Step 101: The control device controls the loading robot to transfer the battery cell to the first main inspection cavity, controls the first vacuum valve corresponding to the first main inspection cavity to open, and evacuates the first main inspection cavity through the first vacuum pump; wherein, the first main inspection cavity is any idle cavity among the multiple main inspection cavities; the first vacuum valve is connected to the first vacuum pump.

[0165] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the control device controls the loading robot to transfer the battery cell to the first main inspection cavity, and controls the first vacuum valve corresponding to the first main inspection cavity to open, and evacuates the first main inspection cavity through the first vacuum pump; wherein, the first main inspection cavity is any idle cavity among multiple main inspection cavities; the first vacuum valve is connected to the first vacuum pump.

[0166] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first main inspection chamber is any idle chamber among the multiple main inspection chambers 3; the number of the multiple main inspection chambers 3 is not limited in the present disclosure. For example, the helium inspection system 0 may include 4 main inspection chambers.

[0167] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, a vacuum pump refers to a device or apparatus that obtains a vacuum by evacuating an evacuated container using mechanical, physical, chemical, or physicochemical methods. The present disclosure does not limit the first vacuum pump 4 and the second vacuum pump 6; for example, the first vacuum pump 4 can be any one of a D60C vacuum pump and a D16C vacuum pump, and the second vacuum pump 6 can also be any one of a D60C vacuum pump and a D16C vacuum pump.

[0168] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control device can control the loading robot to transfer the battery cells on the loading pull belt to the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity and merge the upper cavity and the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity when receiving the pressure test pass information sent by the detection device; and then when the cavity merging is completed, control the first vacuum valve to open to complete the vacuum operation of the first main inspection cavity.

[0169] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, upon receiving information from the detection device indicating that the withstand voltage test has failed, the control device may control the loading robot to transfer the battery cells on the loading pull belt to the third unloading pull belt for unloading.

[0170] It should be noted that, in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the voltage withstand test can be used to detect the insulation of the battery cell to determine whether the battery cell has good insulation.

[0171] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control device controls the loading robot to transfer a first number of battery cells from the loading belt to the first main inspection cavity.

[0172] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the number of battery cells in the first main inspection cavity reaches a first number, the control device controls the first vacuum valve to open, so as to complete the main inspection operation on the first number of battery cells.

[0173] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control device can control the loading robot to transfer the battery cells on the loading pull belt to the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity and merge the upper cavity and the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity when receiving the pressure test pass information sent by the detection device; and when the cavity merging is completed, control the first vacuum valve to open to complete the vacuum operation of the first main inspection cavity.

[0174] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control device may further control the loading robot to transfer the battery cells on the loading pull belt to the third unloading pull belt for unloading upon receiving the voltage test failure information sent by the detection device.

[0175] Step 102 : After the first main inspection chamber is evacuated, the control device closes the first vacuum valve and performs a major leak test on the battery cell using a first negative pressure gauge.

[0176] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the control device controls the loading robot to transfer the battery cell to the first main inspection cavity, and controls the first vacuum valve corresponding to the first main inspection cavity to open. After the first main inspection cavity is evacuated by the first vacuum pump, the first vacuum valve can be closed after the first main inspection cavity is evacuated, and the battery cell can be tested for large leaks through the first negative pressure gauge.

[0177] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first negative pressure gauge is an elastic sensitive element whose absolute pressure is lower than the atmospheric pressure. The first negative pressure gauge can be used to perform a pressure test on the battery cells in the first main inspection cavity after vacuuming. When the decrease in the measured pressure data of the battery cells compared with the pressure data before vacuuming is greater than a preset decrease parameter, it indicates that there is a leakage in the battery cells, and the test result of the major leakage detection is failure; otherwise, the test result of the major leakage detection is pass.

[0178] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the principle of large leak detection can be understood as the pressure difference method. The large leak detection can screen out battery cells with large leaks. After the large leak detection, helium detection can detect tiny helium leaks, thereby screening out battery cells with slight leaks.

[0179] Step 103 : When the result of the major leak detection is that the detection has passed, the control device controls the second vacuum valve to open, so as to start the second vacuum pump to evacuate the battery cell; wherein the second vacuum valve is connected to the second vacuum pump.

[0180] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, after the control device completes vacuuming of the first main inspection chamber, it closes the first vacuum valve, and performs a major leak test on the battery cell through the first negative pressure gauge. Then, if the test result of the major leak test is passed, the second vacuum valve can be controlled to open to start the second vacuum pump to vacuum the battery cell; wherein the second vacuum valve is connected to the second vacuum pump.

[0181] Step 104 : After the battery cell is evacuated, the control device controls the first helium injection valve of the helium pipeline to open, so as to inject helium into the battery cell.

[0182] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the result of the large leak detection is passed, the control device controls the second vacuum valve to open to start the second vacuum pump to evacuate the battery cell. After the vacuuming of the battery cell is completed, the control device controls the first helium injection valve of the helium pipeline to open to inject helium into the battery cell.

[0183] Step 105 : When the helium injection is completed, the control device closes the first helium injection valve and performs a helium inspection on the battery cell using the first helium detector to complete the main inspection operation on the battery cell.

[0184] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the control device controls the first helium injection valve of the helium pipeline to open after completing the vacuuming of the battery cell. After helium is injected into the battery cell, the first helium injection valve can be closed after completing the helium injection, and the battery cell can be helium inspected by the first helium detector to complete the main inspection operation of the battery cell.

[0185] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first helium detector can be used to detect the concentration of helium molecules in the first main inspection cavity. When the detected helium molecule concentration value is greater than a preset reference value, it indicates that there is a micro-leakage in the battery cell, causing the helium gas injected into the battery cell to enter the first main inspection cavity, thereby determining that the test result of the helium test is failure, otherwise the test result of the helium test is passing; the present disclosure does not limit the type of the first helium detector, for example, the first helium detector can be a helium mass spectrometer leak detector.

[0186] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, when a battery cell is subjected to a helium inspection by a first helium detector, the control device may control the helium inspection valve corresponding to the first helium detector to open and send a helium inspection request to a host computer; the host computer sends a helium inspection instruction to the control device in response to the helium inspection request; the control device controls the first helium detector to perform a helium inspection on the battery cell in response to the helium inspection instruction; and the control device closes the helium inspection valve when the helium inspection is completed.

[0187] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control device can control the second vacuum valve and the main valve to open to start the second vacuum pump to evacuate the battery cell; the control device closes the second vacuum valve after completing the evacuation of the battery cell.

[0188] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, after the helium inspection, regardless of whether the helium inspection is passed or not, a vacuum breaking operation needs to be performed before the battery cells in the first main inspection cavity can be taken out.

[0189] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, after the helium inspection is completed, the control device can control the second vacuum valve and the main valve to open after closing the helium inspection valve, and use the second vacuum pump to extract the helium in the battery cell; after the helium in the battery cell is cleaned, the second vacuum valve is closed; and then the control device can control the vacuum breaking valve corresponding to the atmospheric pipeline to open, and break the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity.

[0190] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, after the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity is broken, the first main inspection cavity can be opened, that is, the upper cavity and the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity are opened, and the battery cell located on the lower cavity is taken out using a blanking robot.

[0191] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control device can close the first vacuum valve after completing the vacuum pumping of the first main inspection chamber, and perform a major leak test on the battery cell through the first negative pressure gauge. Moreover, when the test result of the major leak test is failure, the control device can control the vacuum breaking valve corresponding to the atmospheric pipeline to open, and break the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection chamber through the atmospheric pipeline; then control the unloading robot to transfer the battery cell to the re-inspection chamber for re-inspection; wherein the re-inspection includes the re-inspection of the major leak test and the re-inspection of the helium test.

[0192] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of re-inspection cavities is not limited in the present disclosure; for example, the number of re-inspection cavities may be 2.

[0193] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of battery cells that the re-inspection cavity can accommodate is a second number, and the present disclosure does not limit the second number. For example, the second number may be, that is, the re-inspection cavity can accommodate 4 battery cells for re-inspection at a time.

[0194] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the structure of the re-inspection chamber can be the same as that of the main inspection chamber, and the re-inspection chamber can also include a lower chamber and an upper chamber; however, the large leak detection and helium detection performed in the re-inspection chamber are both re-inspections.

[0195] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, in the main inspection process of the battery cell, when the test result of either the major leak test or the helium test is failed, a re-inspection is required.

[0196] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, after the control device controls the unloading robot to transfer the battery cell to the re-inspection chamber for re-inspection, if the re-inspection result of the battery cell is passed, the re-inspection robot can be controlled to transfer the battery cell from the re-inspection chamber to the first cache position; and then the unloading robot is controlled to transfer the battery cell from the first cache position to the first unloading pull belt for unloading.

[0197] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, after the control device controls the vacuum breaking valve corresponding to the atmospheric pipeline to open and breaks the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection chamber, it can transfer the battery cell from the first main inspection chamber to the unloading position if the helium inspection result is passed, and control the unloading robot to transfer the battery cell on the unloading position to the first unloading pull belt for unloading.

[0198] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, after the control device controls the vacuum breaking valve corresponding to the atmospheric pipeline to open and breaks the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection chamber, it can also control the unloading robot to transfer the battery cell from the first main inspection chamber to the re-inspection chamber for re-inspection if the helium inspection result is failure.

[0199] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the helium inspection system may further include a third vacuum valve, a fourth vacuum valve, a second negative pressure gauge, a second helium injection valve and a second helium detector; wherein the third vacuum valve may be connected to the first vacuum pump, and the fourth vacuum valve may be connected to the second vacuum pump; when the control device re-inspects the battery cells in the re-inspection chamber, it may control the third vacuum valve corresponding to the re-inspection chamber to open, and evacuate the re-inspection chamber through the first vacuum pump; when the re-inspection chamber is evacuated, the third vacuum valve is closed, and the battery cells are re-inspected for a major leak test through the second negative pressure gauge; when the re-inspection result of the major leak test is a pass, the fourth vacuum valve may be controlled to open to start the second vacuum pump to evacuate the battery cells; and when the battery cells are evacuated, the second helium injection valve may be controlled to open to inject helium into the battery cells; and when the helium injection is completed, the second helium injection valve is closed, and the battery cells are re-inspected for helium testing through the second helium detector to complete the re-inspection operation of the battery cells.

[0200] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the second helium injection valve may be connected to a helium pipeline, so that when the second helium injection valve is opened, helium may be injected into the battery cells in the re-inspection cavity through the helium pipeline.

[0201] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the second negative pressure gauge can be used to perform pressure testing on the battery cells in the re-inspection cavity after vacuuming. When the decrease in the measured pressure data of the battery cells compared with the pressure data before vacuuming is greater than the preset decrease parameter, it indicates that there is a leakage in the battery cells, and the test result of the re-inspection of the major leak detection is failure; otherwise, the test result of the re-inspection of the major leak detection is passing.

[0202] It can be understood that in the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the battery cell fails the major leak detection, since the battery cell needs to be taken out from the first main inspection cavity for re-inspection, it is necessary to break the vacuum of the first main inspection cavity and the battery cell, and then control the unloading robot 17 to take out the battery cell.

[0203] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control device may control the re-inspection robot to transfer the battery cell from the re-inspection cavity to the second unloading pull belt for unloading when the re-inspection result of the battery cell is failure.

[0204] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, during the re-inspection of a second number of battery cells in a re-inspection cavity, when there are battery cells that have not passed the re-inspection of the major leak test or the re-inspection of the helium test, the control device can, after completing the vacuum breaking operation of the re-inspection cavity and the second number of battery cells therein, control the re-inspection robot to take out the battery cells that have not passed the re-inspection of the major leak test or the re-inspection of the helium test and transfer them to the second unloading belt for unloading; when there are battery cells that have passed the re-inspection of the major leak test and the re-inspection of the helium test, the control device can control the re-inspection robot to take out the battery cells that have passed the re-inspection of the major leak test and the re-inspection of the helium test and transfer them to the first cache position.

[0205] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, for example, as shown in FIG7 , in the timing diagram of the main inspection process, it can mainly include the processes of passing the major leak detection 41, vacuuming the battery cell 42, injecting helium 43, helium detection 44, clearing helium 45, breaking the vacuum 46, and failing the major leak detection 47, as well as the actual time 48 and the design time 49 of each action; wherein, the actions in passing the major leak detection 41 can include opening the first vacuum valve 411, vacuuming the first main inspection chamber 412, performing the major leak detection 413, and closing the first vacuum valve 414. The design time for the action of opening the first vacuum valve 411 is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds. The design time for the action of vacuuming the first main inspection chamber 412 is 1 0 seconds, the actual execution time is 8 seconds, the design time for executing the large leak detection 413 action is 5 seconds, the actual execution time is 3 seconds, the design time for closing the first vacuum valve 414 action is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds; the actions in the battery cell vacuuming 42 may include opening the second vacuum valve 421, opening the main valve 422, executing the battery cell vacuuming 423 and closing the second vacuum valve 424, the design time for opening the second vacuum valve 421 action is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds, the design time for opening the main valve 422 action is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds, the design time for executing the battery cell vacuuming 423 action is 3 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0. The design time for closing the second vacuum valve 424 is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds. The helium injection 43 operation may include opening the first helium injection valve 431, injecting helium 432, closing the first helium injection valve 433, and closing the main valve 434. The design time for opening the first helium injection valve 431 is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds. The design time for injecting helium 432 is 3 seconds, and the actual execution time is 1 second. The design time for closing the first helium injection valve 433 is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds. The design time for closing the main valve 434 is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0. 25 seconds; the actions in the helium detection 44 may include opening the helium detection valve 441, sending a helium detection request 442 to the upper computer, receiving a helium detection instruction 443, executing the helium detection 444, and closing the helium detection valve 445. The design time for opening the helium detection valve 441 is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds. The design time for sending the helium detection request 442 to the upper computer is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds. The design time for receiving the helium detection instruction 443 is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds. The design time for executing the helium detection 444 is 5 seconds, and the actual execution time is 5 seconds. The design time for closing the helium detection valve 445 is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds; the action of clearing helium 45 may include opening the second vacuum valve 451, opening the main valve 452, executing the cell clearing helium 453 and closing the second vacuum valve 454. The design time for opening the second vacuum valve 451 is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds. The design time for opening the main valve 452 is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds. The design time for executing the cell clearing helium 453 is 3 seconds, and the actual execution time may be 2 seconds to 3 seconds due to different blueprints. 3 seconds, the design time for closing the second vacuum valve 454 is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds; the action of breaking vacuum 46 may include opening the battery cell vacuum breaking valve 461 and opening the cavity vacuum breaking valve 462. The design time for opening the battery cell vacuum breaking valve 461 is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds. The design time for opening the cavity vacuum breaking valve 462 is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds. The action of failing the major leak detection 47 can be The process includes opening the first vacuum valve 471, evacuating the first main inspection chamber 472, executing a major leak detection 473, closing the first vacuum valve 474, opening the chamber vacuum relief valve 475, opening the cell vacuum relief valve 476, and opening the main valve 477. The design time for opening the first vacuum valve 471 is 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time is 0.25 seconds. The design time for evacuating the first main inspection chamber 472 is 10 seconds, and the actual execution time is 8 seconds. The design time for executing the major leak detection 473 is 0.25 seconds. The design time for closing the first vacuum valve 474 was 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time was 0.25 seconds. The design time for opening the cavity vacuum relief valve 475 was 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time was 0.25 seconds. The design time for opening the battery cell vacuum relief valve 476 was 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time was 0.25 seconds. The design time for opening the main valve 477 was 0.25 seconds, and the actual execution time was 0.25 seconds.

[0206] For example, simulations were performed based on the helium detection system and helium detection method proposed in the embodiments of the present disclosure, and the verification results shown in Tables 1 and 2 below were obtained:

[0207] Table 1

[0208] Table 2

[0209] Among them, Table 1 shows the results of simulation verification. For example, the first simulation lasts 22 hours, the number of main inspection cavities is 4, the number of battery cells in each main inspection cavity is 4, the defective (NG) rate of incoming materials, that is, the loaded battery cells is 1%, and the number of battery cells that can be inspected per minute is 23.7. Therefore, the number of battery cells that can be inspected in 22 hours is 24742, of which the number of defective battery cells is 332. Table 2 shows the conclusions drawn from the simulation. The configuration of the helium inspection system that achieves the optimal inspection effect and highest inspection efficiency is as follows: three helium detectors, two at the main inspection station and one at the re-inspection station. The optimal solution obtained from the simulation is to configure four main inspection chambers, each with four battery cells for inspection. Furthermore, three handling robots are configured, one each for the loading, unloading, and re-inspection stations. This includes loading, unloading, and re-inspection robots. This improves the utilization of vacuum and helium resources, achieving the optimal inspection effect and highest inspection efficiency. Furthermore, the simulation is based on an actual first-time yield (FTY) of 98% ± 1 and a design benchmark of 3% for the incoming material defect rate, indicating no over-design. Furthermore, it has been verified that an incoming material defect rate greater than 3% has a certain impact on the equipment cycle time and production capacity of the helium inspection system.

[0210] This embodiment provides a helium inspection method. A control device can control a loading robot to transfer a battery cell to any idle first main inspection chamber among multiple main inspection chambers, and then open a first vacuum valve connected to a first vacuum pump, so that the first vacuum pump can be used to evacuate the first main inspection chamber. After the vacuum is evacuated, the first vacuum valve is closed to perform a major leak test on the battery cell, which can effectively reduce the waste of vacuum resources and improve the efficiency of major leak detection. If the major leak test passes, the second vacuum valve can be controlled to open, and the second vacuum pump can be used to evacuate the battery cell. Then, the first helium injection valve of the helium pipeline is controlled to open, helium is injected into the battery cell to complete the helium test, and the first helium injection valve is closed. This can effectively reduce the waste of vacuum and helium resources during the helium test process and improve the efficiency of helium testing. It can be seen that the present disclosure can improve the utilization rate of vacuum and helium resources in the main inspection process and effectively improve the detection efficiency of major leak detection and helium testing of battery cells by controlling and scheduling the execution of actions of related devices during the major leak detection and helium testing in the main inspection process.

[0211] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present disclosure may take the form of hardware embodiments, software embodiments, or embodiments combining software and hardware.

[0212] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure. Industrial Applicability

[0213] The present disclosure discloses a helium inspection system and method, wherein a control device controls a loading robot to transfer a battery cell to a first main inspection chamber and open a corresponding first vacuum valve, evacuates the first main inspection chamber by a first vacuum pump, closes the first vacuum valve after evacuation, and performs a major leak inspection on the battery cell by a first negative pressure gauge; if the major leak inspection passes, a second vacuum valve is controlled to open to start the second vacuum pump to evacuate the battery cell, and after evacuation, a first helium injection valve of a helium pipeline is controlled to open, helium is injected into the battery cell, and the first helium injection valve is closed after the helium injection is completed, and a helium inspection is performed on the battery cell by a first helium detector to complete the main inspection of the battery cell; if the major leak inspection fails, a vacuum release valve is opened to release the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection chamber through the atmospheric pipeline; and an unloading robot is controlled to transfer the battery cell to a re-inspection chamber for re-inspection, which can improve the utilization rate of vacuum resources and helium resources and improve the inspection efficiency.

Claims

1. A helium inspection system, comprising a control device, a loading manipulator, a main inspection chamber, a first vacuum pump, a first vacuum valve, a second vacuum pump, a second vacuum valve, a first negative pressure gauge, a helium pipeline, a first helium injection valve, a first helium detector, an unloading manipulator, and a re-inspection chamber; The control device is used to control the loading robot to transfer the battery cell to the first main inspection chamber, and control the first vacuum valve corresponding to the first main inspection chamber to open, and evacuate the first main inspection chamber by the first vacuum pump; and when the first main inspection chamber is evacuated, close the first vacuum valve, and perform a major leak test on the battery cell by using a first negative pressure gauge; and when the test result of the major leak test is a pass, control the second vacuum valve to open, so as to start the second vacuum pump to evacuate the battery cell; and when the battery cell is evacuated, control the first helium injection valve of the helium pipeline to open, and inject helium into the battery cell; and when the helium injection is completed, close the first helium injection valve, and perform a helium test on the battery cell by using a first helium detector, thereby completing the main inspection operation on the battery cell; The control device is further configured to, when the result of the major leak detection is failure, control the vacuum breaking valve to open, break the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity through the atmospheric pipe; and control the unloading manipulator to transfer the battery cell to the re-inspection cavity for re-inspection; wherein, The re-inspection includes the re-inspection of the major leak detection and the re-inspection of the helium detection; The first main inspection cavity is any idle cavity among the plurality of main inspection cavities; the first vacuum valve is connected to the first vacuum pump; and the second vacuum valve is connected to the second vacuum pump.

2. The helium detection system according to claim 1, wherein: The helium detection system further includes a host computer and a helium detection valve, wherein the helium detection valve is connected to the first helium detector; The control device is further configured to control the opening of the helium detection valve corresponding to the first helium detector and to send a helium detection request to the host computer; The host computer is configured to send a helium detection instruction to the control device in response to the helium detection request; The control device is further configured to control the first helium detector to perform a helium test on the battery cell in response to the helium test instruction; and to close the helium test valve when the helium test is completed.

3. The helium detection system according to claim 2, wherein: The helium detection system also includes a main valve; The control device is further configured to control the second vacuum valve and the main valve to open, so as to start the second vacuum pump to evacuate the battery cell; and to close the second vacuum valve when the evacuation of the battery cell is completed; The control device is further configured to close the main valve when the first helium injection valve is closed.

4. The helium detection system according to claim 3, wherein: The helium detection system further includes the atmospheric pipeline and the vacuum breaking valve connected to the atmospheric pipeline; The control device is further configured to control the opening of the second vacuum valve and the main valve, and to utilize the second vacuum pump to extract the helium in the battery cell; and to close the second vacuum valve when the helium in the battery cell is completely cleaned; and to control the opening of the vacuum breaking valve, and to break the vacuum in the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity through the atmospheric pipe.

5. The helium detection system according to claim 4, wherein: The helium inspection system further includes a re-inspection manipulator, a first buffer position, and a first blanking pull belt; The control device is also used to control the re-inspection robot to transfer the battery cell from the re-inspection cavity to the first cache position when the re-inspection result of the battery cell is passed; and control the unloading robot to transfer the battery cell from the first cache position to the first unloading pull belt for unloading.

6. The helium detection system according to claim 5, wherein: The helium detection system also includes a material discharge position; The control device is also used to transfer the battery cell from the first main inspection cavity to the unloading position when the detection result of the helium inspection is passed, and control the unloading robot to transfer the battery cell on the unloading position to the first unloading pull belt for unloading; and to control the unloading robot to transfer the battery cell from the first main inspection cavity to the re-inspection cavity for re-inspection when the detection result of the helium inspection is failed.

7. The helium detection system according to claim 5 or 6, wherein: The helium detection system further includes a second blanking belt; The control device is further configured to control the re-inspection robot to transfer the battery cell from the re-inspection cavity to the second unloading belt for unloading when the re-inspection result of the battery cell is failure.

8. The helium detection system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein: The helium detection system also includes a detection device and a feeding pull belt; the main detection cavity includes an upper cavity and a lower cavity; The detection device is used to perform a withstand voltage test on the battery cell; The control device is further configured to control the loading robot to transfer the battery cell on the loading pull belt to the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity and close the upper cavity and the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity when receiving the withstand voltage test passing information sent by the detection device; And when the cavity closing is completed, the first vacuum valve is controlled to open to complete the vacuuming operation of the first main inspection cavity.

9. The helium detection system according to claim 8, wherein: The helium detection system further includes a third blanking pull belt; The control device is further used to control the loading robot to transfer the battery cells on the loading pull belt to the third unloading pull belt for unloading when receiving the voltage test failure information sent by the detection device.

10. The helium detection system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein: The control device is also used to control the loading robot to transfer the first number of battery cells from the loading pull belt to the first main inspection cavity; and when the number of battery cells in the first main inspection cavity reaches a first number, control the first vacuum valve to open to complete the main inspection operation on the first number of battery cells.

11. A helium detection method, applied to the helium detection system according to any one of claims 1 to 10, comprising: The control device controls the loading robot to transfer the battery cell to the first main inspection chamber, controls the first vacuum valve corresponding to the first main inspection chamber to open, and evacuates the first main inspection chamber through a first vacuum pump; wherein the first main inspection chamber is any idle chamber among the multiple main inspection chambers; and the first vacuum valve is connected to the first vacuum pump; When the first main inspection chamber is evacuated, the control device closes the first vacuum valve and performs a major leak test on the battery cell using a first negative pressure gauge; When the result of the major leak detection is a pass, the control device controls the second vacuum valve to open, so as to start the second vacuum pump to evacuate the battery cell; wherein the second vacuum valve is connected to the second vacuum pump; When the battery cell is evacuated, the control device controls the first helium injection valve of the helium pipeline to open, so as to inject helium into the battery cell; When the helium injection is completed, the control device closes the first helium injection valve and performs a helium inspection on the battery cell using a first helium detector to complete the main inspection operation on the battery cell; When the result of the major leak detection is failure, the control device controls the vacuum breaking valve corresponding to the atmospheric pipeline to open, thereby breaking the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity through the atmospheric pipeline; The control device controls the unloading robot to transfer the battery cell to the re-inspection chamber for re-inspection; wherein, the re-inspection includes the re-inspection of the large leak detection and the re-inspection of the helium detection.

12. The helium detection method according to claim 11, wherein: The helium testing of the battery cell by a first helium tester includes: The control device controls the helium detection valve corresponding to the first helium detector to open, and sends a helium detection request to the host computer; The host computer sends a helium detection instruction to the control device in response to the helium detection request; The control device controls the first helium detector to perform a helium test on the battery cell in response to the helium test instruction; The control device closes the helium detection valve when the helium detection is completed.

13. The helium detection method according to claim 12, wherein: The method further comprises: The control device controls the second vacuum valve and the main valve to open, so as to start the second vacuum pump to evacuate the battery cell; The control device closes the second vacuum valve when the vacuum pumping of the battery cell is completed.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein: After the control device closes the helium detection valve when the helium detection is completed, the method further includes: The control device controls the second vacuum valve and the main valve to open, and uses the second vacuum pump to extract the helium in the battery cell; The control device closes the second vacuum valve when the helium cleaning in the battery cell is completed; The control device controls the vacuum breaking valve corresponding to the atmospheric pipeline to open, thereby breaking the vacuum of the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity.

15. The helium detection method according to claim 14, wherein: After the control device controls the unloading robot to transfer the battery cell to the re-inspection chamber for re-inspection, the method further includes: When the re-inspection result of the battery cell is that the re-inspection is passed, the control device controls the re-inspection robot to transfer the battery cell from the re-inspection cavity to the first cache position; The control device controls the unloading robot to transfer the battery cell from the first cache position to the first unloading pull belt for unloading.

16. The helium detection method according to claim 15, wherein: The control device controls the vacuum breaking valve corresponding to the atmospheric pipe to open, and after breaking the vacuum in the battery cell and the first main inspection cavity, the method further includes: When the helium inspection result is a passing result, the control device transfers the battery cell from the first main inspection cavity to the unloading position, and controls the unloading manipulator to transfer the battery cell on the unloading position to the first unloading belt for unloading; When the helium inspection result is failure, the control device controls the unloading robot to transfer the battery cell from the first main inspection cavity to the re-inspection cavity for re-inspection.

17. The helium detection method according to claim 15 or 16, wherein: The method further comprises: When the re-inspection result of the battery cell is failure, the control device controls the re-inspection robot to transfer the battery cell from the re-inspection cavity to the second unloading belt for unloading.

18. The helium detection method according to any one of claims 11 to 17, wherein: The method further comprises: Upon receiving the information indicating that the withstand voltage test has passed from the detection device, the control device controls the loading robot to transfer the battery cell on the loading belt to the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity, and to close the upper cavity and the lower cavity of the first main inspection cavity; When the cavity closing is completed, the control device controls the first vacuum valve to open, so as to complete the vacuuming operation of the first main inspection cavity.

19. The helium detection method according to claim 18, wherein: The method further comprises: When receiving the information that the withstand voltage test fails from the detection device, the control device controls the loading robot to transfer the battery cells on the loading pull belt to the third unloading pull belt for unloading.

20. The helium detection method according to any one of claims 12 to 19, wherein: The method further comprises: The control device controls the loading robot to transfer a first number of the battery cells from the loading belt to the first main inspection cavity; When the number of the battery cells in the first main inspection cavity reaches the first number, the control device controls the first vacuum valve to open, so as to complete the main inspection operation on the first number of battery cells.

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