Electrode Tab Guide Control for Accurate Battery Sheet Notching

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing notching devices struggle to form electrode tabs at regular intervals in an electrode sheet without causing deformation, catching, or breaking the electrode sheet, leading to measurement errors and increased defect rates in unit cells.

Innovation Solution

A notching device with a visual guide unit that corrects the distribution of electrode tabs by moving visual guides to maintain a constant passage width, preventing deformation and ensuring accurate tab intervals through real-time image capture and control.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Manufacturing precision

If a wire for preventing tab folding is used to correct deformation, then deformation within a fixed feedable range can be corrected, but electrode tabs with deformation outside this range are blocked by the inlet, causing bending, warping, catching, or breaking

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedeformation correction capabilityVSAvoidfeedable range
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The inlet of the wire for preventing tab folding is designed to be movable rather than fixed, allowing it to adjust its position dynamically. This enables the inlet to adapt to electrode tabs with various deformation amounts, accommodating both small and large deformations without blocking the tabs, thereby preventing bending, warping, catching, or breaking while maintaining deformation correction capability

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The feedable range of the wire for preventing tab folding is made variable through the movable inlet design. Instead of being constrained to a predetermined fixed length, the inlet can change its position to accommodate different deformation amounts, effectively expanding the feedable range from a fixed parameter to an adaptive parameter that responds to actual tab deformation conditions

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Device complexity

If visual inspection is performed without correcting electrode tab deformation, then the inspection process is simple, but measurement errors of outer dimensions increase and process capability decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinspection process complexityVSAvoidouter dimension measurement accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

Deformation correction using the wire for preventing tab folding is performed before the visual inspection process. By correcting the deformation of electrode tabs in advance, the subsequent visual inspection can be conducted on properly positioned tabs, ensuring accurate measurement of outer dimensions without requiring complex correction mechanisms during the inspection itself

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Device complexity

If the gap between upper and lower portions of the wire for preventing tab folding is fixed to a predetermined length, then the structure is simple, but electrode tabs with deformation outside this range cannot be corrected and may be further deformed or broken

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvewire structure complexityVSAvoiddefect prevention capability
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The inlet of the wire for preventing tab folding is designed to be movable, transforming the previously fixed gap structure into a dynamic one. This allows the gap to adjust its size according to the actual deformation amount of electrode tabs, enabling reliable correction of both small and large deformations without causing further damage, while maintaining relatively simple wire structure

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP4432452B1Notching device and control method thereof
Publication Date: 2026.04.01 LG ENERGY SOLUTION LTD
  • EP4432452B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4432452B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4432452B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Disclosed are a notching device and a method for controlling the notching device. The notching device can include a notching module configured to form a plurality of electrode tabs in an electrode sheet, a visual unit configured to photograph the plurality of electrode tabs in the electrode sheet fed from the notching module, a detection unit configured to compare data on the plurality of electrode tabs photographed by the visual unit with reference data to calculate a distribution of the plurality of electrode tabs, a visual guide unit having a passage through which the electrode tabs pass and movably installed to press the plurality of electrode tabs, and a control unit configured to control the visual guide unit to be moved to press the plurality of electrode tabs to correct a distribution amount of the plurality of electrode tabs.