Method for processing and inspecting insulation coating part of electrode web for secondary battery

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for processing and inspecting an insulation coating part of an electrode web for a secondary battery, which is improved to precisely perform insulation coating and precisely inspect a result of the processing of the coated insulation coating part. Provided in the present invention is a method for processing and inspecting an insulation coating part of an electrode web for a secondary battery when an insulation coating part is formed by coating, with an insulation material, an interface between an electrode coating part and a positive electrode uncoated part of the electrode web, the method comprising the steps of: (a) setting a torque mode by driving a mini die forming the insulation coating part with a step motor, performing pulse train control, and setting a designated load rate; (b) advancing a lip part of the mini die in a low-speed mode; and (c) automatically stopping when a load rate equal to or greater than the designated load rate is detected upon contact of the lip part with an object after the lip part is advanced.

Description

Method for working on and inspecting the insulation coating part of electrode fabric for secondary batteries

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for working on and inspecting an insulating coating portion of an electrode material for a secondary battery, and more specifically, to an improved method for working on and inspecting an insulating coating portion of an electrode material for a secondary battery that enables precise working on the insulating coating and precise inspection of the results of the working on the insulating coating portion.

[0002] A secondary battery is a rechargeable battery configured to repeatedly charge and discharge by allowing ions in the electrolyte to move between a positive electrode and a negative electrode insulated by a separator.

[0003] In addition, the positive and negative electrodes of the secondary battery commonly comprise an electrode current collector made of a metal material and an electrode material that is coated on the electrode current collector and dried and cured.

[0004] Figure 1 (a) shows a plan view of a secondary battery electrode base (1), and Figure 1 (b) shows a cross-sectional view of Figure 1 (a).

[0005] Referring to FIG. 1, the web (1) of the secondary battery electrode is composed of an electrode coating portion (WA) on the surface of the electrode current collector (2) of a metal foil that is extended without interruption, where the electrode material is coated, and an anode uncoated portion (WO) where the electrode current collector (2) is exposed and the electrode material is not laminated.

[0006] And the electrode material applied to the surface of the electrode current collector (2) is rapidly dried by a high-temperature air flow, i.e., hot air, while passing through a drying device.

[0007] In addition, an insulating coating portion (3) coated with an insulating material is formed at the interface where the electrode coating portion (WA) and the anode uncoated portion (WO) come into contact.

[0008] In this way, the insulating coating part (3) coats an insulating material on the boundary surface between the positive electrode uncoated part (WO) and the electrode coating part (WA), thereby separating it from the negative electrode during the battery assembly process to prevent fire and ensure safety of electrical resistance and increase energy density.

[0009] In FIG. 1, drawing number 'W' is the width of the insulating coating part (3), and 'OL' is the overlay and its width.

[0010] Meanwhile, the insulation coating work setting of the existing insulation coating part (3) was performed by the subjective judgment of the operator using a filler gauge (11), as shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b.

[0011] That is, the gap between the electrode material (1) and the lip portion of the mini die (21) is set to 100 to 200 μm, and the above setting is done using the filler gauge (21).

[0012] However, the conventional gap setting method described above was performed by the subjective judgment of the operator, and the angle was manually adjusted by the tilting stage of the mini die (21) according to the path of the electrode material (1) and the thickness of the insulating coating part (3).

[0013] Accordingly, it was difficult to precisely set the above gap, and as a result, there was a problem that precise work could not be performed.

[0014] Additionally, FIGS. 3a and 3b illustrate a method for measuring the width of the insulation coating part (3) and the wet state overlay of the conventional method.

[0015] Referring to FIGS. 3a and 3b, the width of the insulating coating part (3) is detected by distinguishing the brightness of the insulating coating part (3) through a vision camera, and the dimensions of the overlay width of the insulating coating part (3) are estimated according to the coating specifications.

[0016] The reason is that conventional vision cameras could not detect the aforementioned overlay.

[0017] The present invention was created to solve the above-mentioned problems and aims to provide a method for working on and inspecting the insulating coating portion of an electrode material for a secondary battery, which enables precise working on the insulating coating and precise inspection of the results of the working on the insulating coating portion.

[0018] As a technical solution for achieving the above objective, the method for working on and inspecting the insulating coating portion of an electrode material for a secondary battery according to the present invention is,

[0019] In a method for working on and inspecting the insulating coating portion of an electrode material for a secondary battery, when forming an insulating coating portion by coating an insulating material on the boundary surface between the electrode coating portion and the anode uncoated portion of the electrode material,

[0020] (a) a step of driving a mini-die forming the insulating coating part with a stepper motor to set a torque mode and perform pulse train control and set a specified load rate;

[0021] (b) a step of advancing the lip portion of the minidie in a low-speed mode; and

[0022] (c) A step of automatically stopping when the above lip part detects an abnormal load rate when it contacts an object after advancing; the method is characterized by including this step.

[0023] In the present invention, one step forward distance of the stepper motor is 4 μm.

[0024] A method for working on and inspecting the insulating coating portion of another electrode material for a secondary battery according to the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned purpose is,

[0025] In a method for working on and inspecting the insulating coating portion of an electrode material for a secondary battery when forming an insulating coating portion by coating an insulating material on the boundary surface between the electrode coating portion and the anode uncoated portion of the electrode material,

[0026] (A) When the electrode material having the insulating coating portion formed thereon is transported, a blue (B) light is irradiated toward the transported insulating coating portion to detect the width of the insulating coating portion;

[0027] (B) A step of irradiating the insulating coating portion with red (R), green (G), and blue (B) lights to detect the overlay width of the insulating coating portion;

[0028] (C) A step of detecting the insulation coating portion and the overlay width by repeating steps (A) and (B) above; is included and is characterized by the same.

[0029] In the present invention, the insulation coating portion and the overlay width are detected by the difference in color levels.

[0030] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the insulating coating can be performed precisely, and the results of the work on the coated insulating part can be inspected precisely.

[0031] Therefore, high-quality electrode materials for secondary batteries can be manufactured.

[0032] Figure 1 (a) is a plan view of a secondary battery electrode base (1), and Figure 1 (b) is a cross-sectional view of Figure 1 (a).

[0033] FIG. 2a is a filler gauge applied to an insulating coating setting method according to the prior art, and FIG. 2b is an explanatory diagram for explaining an insulating coating setting method according to the prior art.

[0034] FIG. 3a is an explanatory diagram illustrating a method for measuring insulation coating width and overlay according to conventional technology, and FIG. 3b is an enlarged detailed view of FIG. 3a.

[0035] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an embodiment of the method for working on and inspecting the insulating coating part of an electrode material for a secondary battery according to the present invention.

[0036] Figure 5 is a detailed view of the mini-die driving device of Figure 4.

[0037] FIGS. 6a to 6g are explanatory diagrams sequentially illustrating other embodiments of the method for working on and inspecting the insulating coating portion of an electrode material for a secondary battery according to the present invention.

[0038] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[0039] FIG. 4 illustrates an explanatory diagram describing an embodiment of the method for working on and inspecting the insulating coating portion of an electrode material for a secondary battery according to the present invention.

[0040] And Figure 5 shows a detailed view of the mini-die driving device of Figure 4.

[0041] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the method for working on and inspecting the insulating coating portion of an electrode material for a secondary battery according to one embodiment of the present invention, as described above with reference to FIG. 1, involves, when forming an insulating coating portion (3) by coating an insulating material on the boundary surface between the electrode coating portion (WA) and the positive electrode uncoated portion (W0) of the electrode material, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), driving the mini-die forming the insulating coating portion (3) with a stepper motor (31) to set a torque mode and perform pulse row control, and setting a designated load factor (step 110).

[0042] Next, as shown in FIG. 4(b), the lip part of the minidie is advanced in a low-speed mode (step 120).

[0043] And as shown in FIG. 4(c), after the lip part advances, if the lip part is detected to be in contact with an object at a load rate greater than the set rate, it is automatically stopped (step 130).

[0044] In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, the step forward distance of the stepper motor is 4 μm.

[0045] That is, the stepper motor (31) transmits signals in a step-by-step manner, rotates 0.72˚ per step, and has precision according to the lead value in a forward and backward manner by a ball screw (32) directly connected to the stepper motor (31).

[0046] And as shown in FIG. 5, the lead of the ball screw (32) of the stepper motor (31) is 2 mm, and when one step is taken, it rotates by 0.72 degrees, and the forward distance is 0.004 mm. Therefore, the precision of the stepper motor (31) is managed to be 4 μm.

[0047] FIGS. 6a to 6g show explanatory diagrams sequentially illustrating other embodiments of the method for working on and inspecting the insulating coating portion of an electrode material for a secondary battery according to the present invention.

[0048] Referring to FIGS. 6a to 6g, the method for working on and inspecting the insulating coating portion of an electrode material for a secondary battery according to another embodiment of the present invention is described above with reference to FIG. 1 and, as illustrated in FIGS. 6a to 6c, when forming an insulating coating portion (3) by coating an insulating material using a mini die (30) on the boundary surface between the electrode coating portion (WA) and the positive electrode uncoated portion (W0) of the electrode material (1), first, when the electrode material (1) having the insulating coating portion (3) formed thereon is transported, a blue (B) light is irradiated toward the insulating coating portion (3) of the transported electrode material (1) using a bar vision (40) to detect the width of the insulating coating portion (3). (Step 210)

[0049] Meanwhile, in FIG. 6c and FIG. 6f described later, reference numeral 34 represents a coating roll, and SD represents a slot die.

[0050] Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 6d to 6f, red (R), green (G), and blue (B) lights are irradiated onto the insulating coating part (3) using a bar vision (40) to detect the overlay width of the insulating coating part (3). (Step 220)

[0051] Then, as illustrated in FIG. 6g, steps 210 and 220 are repeated to detect the width of the insulating coating portion (3) and the overlay (OL). (Step 230)

[0052] At this time, the width detection of the insulation coating part (3) and the overlay (OL) is detected by the difference in color level.

[0053] That is, the width of the insulating coating part (3), the overlay (OL), and the width thereof are detected by repeatedly changing the irradiation of light.

[0054] According to the method for working on and inspecting the insulating coating portion of a secondary battery electrode material according to the present invention as described above, the insulating coating can be worked on precisely, and the results of the working on the insulating coating portion can be inspected precisely.

[0055] Therefore, high-quality electrode materials for secondary batteries can be manufactured.

[0056] As described above, the present invention has been explained with reference to an embodiment illustrated in the drawings, but this is merely illustrative, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent embodiments are possible therefrom.

[0057] Therefore, the true scope of protection of the present invention must be determined solely by the appended claims.

[0058] It is industrially applicable because it allows for precise work on insulating coatings and precise inspection of the results of the work on the coated insulating parts.

Claims

1. In a method for working on and inspecting the insulating coating portion of an electrode material for a secondary battery when forming an insulating coating portion by coating an insulating material on the boundary surface between the electrode coating portion and the anode uncoated portion of the electrode material, (a) a step of driving a mini-die forming the insulating coating part with a stepper motor to set a torque mode and perform pulse train control and set a specified load rate; (b) a step of advancing the lip portion of the minidie in a low-speed mode; and (c) A step of automatically stopping when the load rate is exceeded upon contact with an object after the lip part advances; characterized by including the method for working on and inspecting the insulating coating part of an electrode material for a secondary battery.

2. In Paragraph 1, A method for working on and inspecting the insulation coating portion of an electrode material for a secondary battery, characterized in that the step forward distance of the stepper motor is 4㎛.

3. In a method for working on and inspecting the insulating coating portion of an electrode material for a secondary battery when forming an insulating coating portion by coating an insulating material on the boundary surface between the electrode coating portion and the anode uncoated portion of the electrode material, (A) When the electrode material having the insulating coating portion formed thereon is transported, a blue (B) light is irradiated toward the transported insulating coating portion to detect the width of the insulating coating portion; (B) A step of irradiating the insulating coating portion with red (R), green (G), and blue (B) lights to detect the overlay width of the insulating coating portion; (C) A step of detecting the insulation coating portion and the overlay width by repeating steps (A) and (B); characterized by comprising: a method for working on and inspecting the insulation coating portion of an electrode material for a secondary battery.

4. In Paragraph 3, A method for working on and inspecting an insulating coating portion of an electrode material for a secondary battery, characterized in that the insulating coating portion and the overlay width are detected by a difference in color level.

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