Battery transport jig

Abstract

A disclosed battery transport jig 10 comprises: a cylindrical body 11 that has an outer peripheral surface 12 and an inner peripheral surface 13, and a hollow portion for housing a cylindrical battery 100; and at least one protrusion 30 that is provided on the outer peripheral surface 12 of the cylindrical body 11 and is composed of a material that has an elastic modulus smaller than that of the constituent material of the cylindrical body 11.

Description

Battery transport jig CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This disclosure claims the benefit of priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-146814, filed on August 28, 2024, in the Japan Patent Office, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to a battery transport jig.

[0003] Conventionally, a transport jig for transporting a battery (or a cylindrical body) in the manufacturing process has been known (for example, Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 discloses a transport holder comprising "a cylindrical portion having a hollow portion for accommodating a cylindrical body, and a protrusion having a base end connected to the inner wall surface of the cylindrical portion and a tip end formed as a free end, the protrusion having elasticity and flexibility, and the protrusion being disposed on the inner diameter side of the outer peripheral surface so that, when the protrusion is bent toward the outer diameter side of the hollow portion, the side of the tip end of the protrusion can abut against the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body at an intended accommodation position."

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-87622

[0005] The present inventors have been studying ways to increase the transport speed of batteries during the manufacturing process in order to further improve productivity. However, when attempting to transport batteries during the manufacturing process at high speed using conventional transport jigs, a problem has emerged in which the batteries are subjected to impacts, resulting in deterioration of their quality. In this situation, one of the objectives of the present disclosure is to suppress deterioration of battery quality.

[0006] One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a battery transport jig that includes a cylindrical body having an outer peripheral surface and an inner peripheral surface and a hollow portion for accommodating a cylindrical battery, and at least one protrusion provided on the outer peripheral surface and made of a material having a modulus of elasticity lower than that of a constituent material of the cylindrical body.

[0007] According to the present disclosure, deterioration of the quality of a battery can be suppressed. The novel features of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims, but the present invention, both in terms of structure and content, together with other objects and features of the present invention, will be better understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings.

[0008] 1 is a front view schematically illustrating an example of a battery transport jig according to the present disclosure;

[0009] An embodiment of a battery transport jig according to the present disclosure will be described below using examples. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the examples described below. In the following description, specific numerical values ​​and materials may be used as examples, but other numerical values ​​and materials may be used as long as the effects of the present disclosure are obtained.

[0010] The battery transport jig according to the present disclosure is used to transport batteries (hereinafter simply referred to as batteries) in the manufacturing process. The batteries may be cylindrical or rectangular tubular batteries. The battery transport jig according to the present disclosure (hereinafter simply referred to as the transport jig) includes a cylindrical body and at least one protrusion.

[0011] The cylindrical body has an outer peripheral surface and an inner peripheral surface. The cylindrical body has a hollow portion for accommodating a cylindrical battery (or a battery in the manufacturing process). The shape of the cylindrical body is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, cylindrical. The cylindrical body may further have an upper surface and a lower surface, each of which connects the outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface. The hollow portion may be substantially cylindrical. The constituent material of the cylindrical body is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a resin material such as polypropylene. However, it is desirable that the constituent material of the cylindrical body be chemical resistant.

[0012] At least one protrusion is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body. The at least one protrusion is made of a material having a lower elastic modulus than the material constituting the cylindrical body. The shape of the protrusion is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a ring-like shape extending around the entire circumference, or a segment-like shape extending over a portion of the circumference. The at least one protrusion may be provided in a plurality of locations spaced apart in the axial direction of the cylindrical body and / or in a plurality of locations spaced apart in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body. The material constituting the at least one protrusion is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a rubber material or elastomer such as ethylene propylene rubber, nitrile rubber, or styrene butadiene rubber, a composite material combining multiple types of rubber materials or elastomers, or a gel material. A rubber material or elastomer with low resilience is particularly preferred as the material constituting the protrusion.

[0013] According to the transport jig having the above-described configuration, cylindrical batteries are housed and held in the hollow portion of the cylindrical body. When the transport jig holding the batteries is transported, the transport jig may collide with components (e.g., stoppers) on the transport path or with other transport jigs. At high transport speeds (e.g., at speeds of 250 mm / s or greater, or 300 mm / s or greater), conventional transport jigs may cause quality degradation of the batteries housed therein. Furthermore, with the recent increase in battery capacity, the weight of each battery has increased, which is expected to significantly increase the impact of a collision, raising concerns about battery quality degradation. In contrast, the transport jig according to the present disclosure has at least one protrusion on the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical body. This protrusion absorbs or mitigates the impact of a collision and prevents collisions between the outer circumferential surfaces of cylindrical bodies with relatively high elastic moduli. This reduces quality degradation of the batteries housed in the transport jig. The outer diameter of the at least one protrusion may be, for example, 101% or more and 130% or less of the outer diameter of the cylindrical body. In this case, the protrusion can sufficiently absorb the impact in the event of a collision and is unlikely to interfere with transportation.

[0014] At least one protrusion may be provided on the outer circumferential surface to prevent the outer circumferential surface from colliding with other battery transport jigs, guides, and stoppers when the battery transport jig containing the batteries is transported. In this configuration, the outer circumferential surface of the transport jig containing the batteries does not collide with other battery transport jigs, etc. during transport. This further reduces deterioration in the quality of the batteries contained in the transport jig. The guide may be a guide installed on the transport path of the battery transport jig to guide the transport of the battery transport jig. The stopper may be a stopper installed on the transport path of the battery transport jig to stop the transport of the battery transport jig.

[0015] At least one protrusion may be disposed along the entire circumference of the outer circumferential surface. In this case, even if the circumferential orientation of the transport jig changes during transport, when the transport jig collides with another component, the impact can be absorbed or mitigated by the protrusion disposed along the entire circumference of the outer circumferential surface. Such a protrusion may be, for example, a rubber ring fitted into a circumferential groove formed on the outer circumferential surface.

[0016] The at least one protrusion may include a protrusion arranged in the axial direction of the cylinder on the side of the cylinder from which a portion of the battery protrudes. In a typical example, the axial direction of the cylinder coincides with the height direction, and the upper portion of the battery protrudes above the cylinder. In this case, the at least one protrusion includes a protrusion arranged on the upper side of the cylinder (above the center in the height direction). This upper protrusion is located near the center of gravity of the transported object, which is composed of the battery and the transport jig, in the height direction. Therefore, impact when the transported object collides with other components can be efficiently absorbed or mitigated.

[0017] At least one protrusion may be made of a material containing rubber. Examples of the material containing rubber include the various rubber materials described above, and composite materials combining various rubber materials with an elastic body (elastomer). In this case, the cylindrical body may be made of a resin material such as polypropylene.

[0018] At least one protrusion may be made of an elastic body (or elastomer), and in this case, the cylindrical body may be made of a resin material such as polypropylene.

[0019] The outer peripheral surface may have at least one groove extending along a plane perpendicular to the central axis of the cylindrical body and extending tangentially to the outer peripheral surface. In a typical example, the at least one groove is a D-shaped groove formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body. In this case, by combining the D-shaped groove with an appropriate guide member, it is possible to prevent the orientation of the conveying jig in the circumferential direction from changing during conveyance, as needed.

[0020] The cylindrical body may have a holding portion provided on its inner circumferential surface that elastically holds the battery. The holding portion may be integrally formed with the cylindrical body. Alternatively, the cylindrical body may have a cylindrical main body portion formed separately from the holding portion, and the two may be integrally joined. With this configuration, the battery is held in its correct position during transport, and the holding portion that elastically holds the battery can absorb or mitigate impacts in the event of a collision.

[0021] The cylindrical body may have at least one identification display portion that allows access to the identification information of the battery transport jig. The identification display portion is not particularly limited as long as it allows access to the identification information of the transport jig, and may be, for example, a two-dimensional code, a one-dimensional code, or a combination of letters, numbers, dots, etc. The identification display portion may be provided on at least one of the top surface, bottom surface, and outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body.

[0022] The cylinder may include an RFID tag that provides access to the battery carrier's identification information, for example, the RFID tag may be located in a hole in the cylinder.

[0023] As described above, according to the present disclosure, by providing at least one protrusion on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body, deterioration of the quality of the battery during transportation can be suppressed.

[0024] An example of a battery transport jig according to the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The components described above can be applied to the components of the example battery transport jig described below. The components of the example battery transport jig described below can be modified based on the above description. Furthermore, the matters described below may be applied to the above embodiment. Of the components of the example battery transport jig described below, components that are not essential for the battery transport jig according to the present disclosure may be omitted. Note that the diagrams shown below are schematic and do not accurately reflect the shapes and numbers of actual components.

[0025] The battery transport jig 10 of this embodiment is a jig for transporting a cylindrical battery 100 (hereinafter simply referred to as the battery 100) in the manufacturing process. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the battery transport jig 10 includes a cylindrical body 11 and a protrusion 30. The battery 100 is indicated by a two-dot chain line in each figure.

[0026] The cylindrical body 11 is generally cylindrical overall. In this embodiment, the cylindrical body 11 is made of polypropylene resin, but is not limited to this. The cylindrical body 11 has an outer peripheral surface 12, an inner peripheral surface 13, and an upper surface 14 and a lower surface 15 connecting the outer peripheral surface 12 and the inner peripheral surface 13. The cylindrical body 11 has a hollow portion 16 for accommodating the battery 100.

[0027] The outer peripheral surface 12 of the cylindrical body 11 has at least one groove 12a (two in this example) extending along a plane (a horizontal plane in FIG. 1 ) perpendicular to the central axis O of the cylindrical body 11 and extending along a tangential direction of the outer peripheral surface 12. The two grooves 12a face each other (or extend parallel to each other) when viewed from the axial direction of the cylindrical body 11.

[0028] The cylindrical body 11 has a retaining portion 17 disposed on its inner circumferential surface 13 that elastically retains the battery 100. The retaining portion 17 is composed of multiple plates 18 arranged in a line around the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body 11. Each plate 18 is integrally formed with the cylindrical body 11 and extends along the axial direction of the cylindrical body 11. As shown in FIG. 2 , each plate 18 has a base end 18a extending radially from the inner circumferential surface 13 of the cylindrical body 11 and a protruding end 18b that curves from the tip of the base end 18a and extends circumferentially. In this example, five pairs of plates 18 are provided, each extending opposite each other. When a battery 100 is inserted into the hollow portion 16, the protruding end 18b of each plate 18 is pressed against the outer circumferential surface of the battery 100, elastically deforming radially outward to retain the battery 100. This arrangement and shape of the multiple plates 18 enables the battery 100 to be firmly retained within the hollow portion 16. 2 shows the plate 18 in an undeformed state (or in an unloaded state).

[0029] The cylindrical body 11 has at least one identification display part 19 that allows access to the identification information of the battery transport jig 10. Although only one identification display part 19 is shown in Figures 1 and 2, the cylindrical body 11 of this embodiment has multiple identification display parts 19 that are provided on its top surface 14 and aligned in the circumferential direction. The cylindrical body 11 also has an RFID tag 21 that allows access to the identification information of the battery transport jig 10.

[0030] The protrusion 30 is provided on the outer peripheral surface 12 of the cylindrical body 11. In this embodiment, the protrusion 30 is configured as a rubber ring fitted into a groove (not shown) formed on the outer peripheral surface 12 of the cylindrical body 11, but is not limited to this. The protrusion 30 is provided on the outer peripheral surface 12 so as to prevent collision between the outer peripheral surfaces 12 of the cylindrical bodies 11 of the multiple battery transport jigs 10 when sliding and transporting the multiple battery transport jigs 10, each accommodating a battery 100. The protrusion 30 is made of a material (ethylene propylene rubber in this example) having a lower elastic modulus than the constituent material of the cylindrical body 11 (polypropylene resin in this example).

[0031] The protrusion 30 is arranged around the entire outer circumferential surface 12 of the cylindrical body 11. The protrusion 30 is arranged in the axial direction of the cylindrical body 11 (the vertical direction in FIG. 1 ) on the side of the cylindrical body 11 from which a portion of the battery 100 protrudes (the upper side in FIG. 1 ).

[0032] <<Supplementary Notes>> The above embodiments disclose the following technologies. (Technology 1) A battery transport jig comprising: a cylindrical body having an outer peripheral surface and an inner peripheral surface, and a hollow portion for accommodating a cylindrical battery; and at least one protrusion provided on the outer peripheral surface and made of a material having a lower elastic modulus than the constituent material of the cylindrical body. (Technology 2) The battery transport jig according to Technology 1, wherein the at least one protrusion is provided on the outer peripheral surface so as to prevent the outer peripheral surface from colliding with another battery transport jig, a guide, or a stopper when the battery transport jig accommodating the battery is transported. (Technology 3) The battery transport jig according to Technology 1 or 2, wherein the at least one protrusion is arranged around the entire outer peripheral surface. (Technology 4) The battery transport jig according to any one of Technology 1 to 3, wherein the at least one protrusion includes a protrusion arranged on a side of the cylindrical body from which a portion of the battery protrudes, in the axial direction of the cylindrical body. (Technology 5) The battery transport jig according to any one of Technologies 1 to 4, wherein the at least one protrusion is made of a material containing rubber. (Technology 6) The battery transport jig according to any one of Technologies 1 to 4, wherein the at least one protrusion is made of an elastic material. (Technology 7) The battery transport jig according to any one of Technologies 1 to 6, wherein the outer circumferential surface has at least one groove extending along a plane perpendicular to the central axis of the cylindrical body and extending along a tangential direction of the outer circumferential surface. (Technology 8) The battery transport jig according to any one of Technologies 1 to 7, wherein the cylindrical body has a holding portion provided on the inner circumferential surface that elastically holds the battery. (Technology 9) The battery transport jig according to any one of Technologies 1 to 8, wherein the cylindrical body has at least one identification display portion that allows access to identification information of the battery transport jig. (Technology 10) The battery transport jig according to any one of Technologies 1 to 9, wherein the cylindrical body has an RFID tag that allows access to identification information of the battery transport jig.

[0033] The present disclosure can be used for a battery transport jig.

[0034] While the present invention has been described in terms of presently preferred embodiments, such disclosure is not to be interpreted as limiting. Various changes and modifications will no doubt become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains upon reading the above disclosure. It is therefore intended that the appended claims be interpreted to cover all changes and modifications that do not depart from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

[0035] 10: Battery transport jig 11: Cylindrical body 12: Outer peripheral surface 12a: Groove 13: Inner peripheral surface 14: Upper surface 15: Lower surface 16: Hollow portion 17: Holding portion 18: Plate 18a: Base end portion 18b: Pointed end portion 19: Identification display portion 21: RFID tag 30: Protrusion 100: Battery O: Central axis

Claims

1. A battery transport jig comprising: a cylindrical body having an outer peripheral surface and an inner peripheral surface, and a hollow portion for accommodating a cylindrical battery; and at least one protrusion provided on the outer peripheral surface, the protrusion being made of a material having a lower elastic modulus than the constituent material of the cylindrical body.

2. A battery transport jig as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one protrusion is provided on the outer peripheral surface so as to prevent the outer peripheral surface from colliding with another battery transport jig, a guide, or a stopper when the battery transport jig containing the battery is transported.

3. The battery transport jig according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one protrusion is arranged along the entire circumference of the outer circumferential surface.

4. A battery transport jig as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one protrusion includes a protrusion arranged on the side of the cylindrical body from which a portion of the battery protrudes in the axial direction of the cylindrical body.

5. The battery transport jig according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one protrusion is made of a material containing rubber.

6. The battery transport jig according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one protrusion is made of an elastic material.

7. A battery transport jig as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the outer peripheral surface has at least one groove extending along a plane perpendicular to the central axis of the cylindrical body and extending along a tangential direction of the outer peripheral surface.

8. A battery transport jig according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cylindrical body has a holding portion provided on the inner circumferential surface for elastically holding the battery.

9. A battery transport jig as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the cylindrical body has at least one identification display portion that allows access to identification information of the battery transport jig.

10. A battery transport jig as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the cylindrical body has an RFID tag that allows access to identification information of the battery transport jig.

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