JP2004105981A - Welding equipment for can type battery - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide welding equipment for a can type battery, with which a battery can be manufactured with high quality and stably. <P>SOLUTION: The equipment is composed of a holding tool 1 that holds and positions an outer can 10 with the cap body of a can type battery fitted thereto, a rotary section 2 that rotates at an arbitrary angle the outer can held by the tool, and a welding section 3 that consists of a laser emitting means 13 for irradiating the sealing part between the cap and the outer can with a welding laser beam and an XY table mechanism 14 for moving with the laser emitting means loaded on it. The laser emitting means 13 is moved and positioned by the XY table mechanism 14, relative to the arbitrary angle rotated by the rotary section 2, in the manner opposing the welding part and making the laser beam be focused on the welding part. Then, the welding laser is emitted, and welding is performed for the entire circumference of the outer can 10 while the angle is successively varied. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a welding apparatus used for welding an outer can and a cap body in a manufacturing process of a battery having a metal outer casing.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In the manufacture of a battery having a metal exterior, a cap body that encloses the electrode body by placing the electrode body in a thin and flat outer can that forms the exterior of the battery, and enclosing the electrode body is usually `` They are joined by “caulking” or “welding”.
As for the joining by “welding”, laser welding has been widely used conventionally, and is roughly classified into the following two welding methods depending on the fitting method between the outer can and the cap body.
As shown in FIG. 4 (a), one is a method of assembling in a form 43 in which a cap body 42 is sunk into the inner upper part of the outer can 41 and welding from above, and the welding mechanism 44 is attached to the upper part of the battery. It is installed on a precise XY table (not shown) and continuously welded with a laser beam 40a emitted from the welding mechanism 44 while moving along the fitting portion between the outer can 41 and the cap body 42 (for example, , See Patent Document 1).
In this welding method, the outer can fitted with the cap body is precisely positioned by the positioning holding mechanism and does not move. Generally, only the welding mechanism uses a servo motor and the cross section of the outer can. It moves with precise continuous movement according to the shape. It is possible to cope with a battery having a shape in which a corner portion of the outer can is chamfered, arced, or the like.
The other one is a battery 47 that is assembled in such a manner that a cap body 46 is placed on the upper end portion of the outer can 45 as shown in FIG. In this method, a pair of welding mechanisms 48a and 48b are mounted on precise single-axis tables (not shown) arranged in pairs on both sides of the outer can of the target battery. Is welded with a laser beam 40b emitted from the welding mechanism (for example, see Patent Document 2) while continuously moving along the fitting portions on both side surfaces of the outer can.
In this method, since the outer can with the cap body placed on the upper end portion is positioned by the positioning holding mechanism and both sides are welded at the same time, after the welding of one side is completed, the other adjacent side is welded. It is necessary to change the direction by 90 degrees. After this change of direction, the remaining one side is welded with laser light emitted again from the welding mechanism, and the process is completed.
[0003]
In the two conventional welding methods described above, there are various problems to be overcome as described below, while a thinner and flatter battery is required.
First, in the assembly shown in FIG. 4A in which the cap body is submerged inside the outer can, the width of the cap body becomes narrower by the thickness of the outer can, which becomes the positive electrode or negative electrode of the battery provided on the cap body. The wall thickness of the electrode pins is insufficient. This induces problems such as insufficient pressure resistance after welding and liquid leakage, which is a problem in reducing the thickness of the battery.
The other method shown in FIG. 4B, in which the cap body is placed on the upper end of the outer can and both side surfaces are welded simultaneously, is not related to the above-described problem of insufficient thickness of the outer can. There are advantages that can be implemented. However, in addition to requiring two welding mechanisms, since the welding operation is performed for each side, there is a problem in that welding variation occurs at the corner portion where these sides intersect, and the corner portion has chamfers, arcs, and other sides. The problem is that the outer can of the adopted battery cannot be handled.
[0004]
As described above, when welding thin and flat batteries, the welding base material itself is thin in the conventional welding form, and the required welding conditions (laser output setting and welding position accuracy) require advanced technology. Inversely, there are problems that cause many product defects such as insufficient pressure resistance and liquid leakage. In addition, in order to cope with a wide variety of cross-sectional shapes, a dedicated device corresponding to each shape is required, and there is a problem that it cannot be easily adapted to small-quantity multi-product production.
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-10-156565 [Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-52776
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and can be carried out without being involved in the lack of thickness of the flat outer can, and has a wide variety in which corners such as chamfers and arcs are employed. An object of the present invention is to provide a can-type battery welding apparatus that can manufacture a battery with high quality and stability by welding uniformly to the next side continuously from one side of the welding operation even for a simple cross-sectional shape. .
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to claim 1 of the present invention, a gripping jig portion for gripping and positioning an outer can fitted with a cap body of a can-type battery, and the gripped outer can can be arbitrarily selected. A rotating portion that is rotated at an angle of, a laser emitting means for irradiating a connection portion between the cap body and the outer can with a laser beam for welding and an XY table mechanism that moves by mounting the laser beam. The laser emitting means is moved by the XY table mechanism so as to face the welded portion and to form an image of the focal point of the laser beam on the welded portion with respect to an arbitrary angle rotated by the rotating portion. Then, the welding laser is emitted, and the angle is sequentially changed to weld the entire circumference of the outer can.
[0007]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the gripping jig portion includes a first chuck body that grips a lower portion of the outer can and a second chuck body that sandwiches the upper portion, and the first chuck body. Is connected to the rotating part to transmit a rotation angle, and the second chuck body is provided on a freely rotating table supported by a bearing body, and the upper portions of the outer cans are attracted to each other by a spring body. 2. The can type battery welding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the outer can is sandwiched to emit heat generated during welding.
[0008]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the rotating section sequentially rotates the outer can in a stepwise manner and finally rotates 360 degrees to finish the welding of the outer can. A can-type battery welding apparatus according to 2 is provided.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0010]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of an apparatus according to the present invention.
[0011]
As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus of the present embodiment is roughly divided into a gripping jig unit 1 that grips a can-type battery to be welded, a rotating unit 2 that rotates the gripped battery, and a welding unit that emits a welding laser. 3 and a main body base 11 on which these are mounted.
[0012]
In this apparatus, the battery 10 vertically held by the holding jig unit 1 is rotated by the rod servo motor 12 of the rotating unit 2, and the focal point of the laser beam emitted from the laser emitting lens unit 13 of the welding unit 3 is joined to the battery 10. In this welding apparatus, the laser emitting lens unit 13 is sequentially moved by an XY table 14 so as to form an image on a portion, and welding is performed.
[0013]
The rotating unit 2 includes a spline nut 15 provided on the main body base 11, a spline shaft 16 attached to the spline nut 15, a rod servo motor 12 that directly connects the rotating shaft to the lower end of the spline shaft 16, and a thickness direction of the flat battery 10. A first chuck 20 is attached via a first parallel slide 21 that slides on the first table 17. The first table 17 provided at the upper end of the spline shaft 16, the servo motor 12, the spline shaft 16, and the first The table 17 is composed of a lifting mechanism (not shown) that moves the table 17 up and down in the axial direction of the spline shaft 16.
[0014]
FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of the laser emitting lens unit 13 for irradiating the battery 10 with laser light and the first parallel slide 21.
[0015]
The gripping jig part 1 is composed of an upper part and a lower part. The lower part of the gripping jig unit 1 includes a first frame 22 fixed to the main body base 11 and a first bearing body 23, and the center of rotation coincides with the rotation axis of the spline shaft 16 to enable rotation. The second table 24 having an opening through which the battery 10 held by the first chuck 20 passes in the center portion, and the upper portion of the second table 24 is orthogonal to the first parallel slide 21. A second chuck 27 having a spring body 26 and an opening / closing mechanism (not shown) for opening and closing the second chuck 27 are provided via a second parallel slide mechanism 25 that moves in the direction.
[0016]
Further, the upper part of the gripping jig part 1 is provided with a second frame 28 fixed to the main body base 11 and a second bearing 30 on the extension of the rotating shaft of the spline shaft 16 of the rotating part 2. A rotary upper jig 29 having a rotation center and capable of rotating is temporarily connected to the cap body of the battery 10, and the height thereof is a predetermined upper limit at which the battery 10 during welding operation is restricted. And a fitting portion 29a provided at the lower end of the rotating upper jig 29.
[0017]
The welded portion 3 includes an X-axis servomotor 31 and a Y-axis servomotor 32, and is driven by the XY table 14 fixed to the upper part of the main body base 11. The XY table 14 is connected to the XY table 14 via a pedestal 33. And a laser oscillation device (not shown) that supplies laser light to the laser emission lens unit 13 via a fiber cable 34.
[0018]
Next, the operation of the welding apparatus according to this embodiment of the present invention will be described.
[0019]
The battery 10 supplied to the welding apparatus is a manufacturing intermediate body in which an electrode body is accommodated in an outer can by a previous process and a cap body is fitted to the upper portion of the outer can. For the supply of the battery 10, a movement / supply mechanism such as a belt conveyor and a pick and place is generally used.
[0020]
First, a battery 10 to be welded that has been moved by a general movement / supply mechanism is a first chuck mounted on a first table 17 that is lowered to the lowest position in the axial direction by a lifting mechanism (not shown) of the rotating unit 2. 20 is supplied. At this time, the battery 10 supplied to the first chuck 20 is held at the center of the first table 17 by a centering mechanism (not shown).
[0021]
Next, a pair of second chucks 27 attracted by a spring body 26 provided on the second table 24 of the gripping jig unit 1 are opened by an opening / closing mechanism (not shown). After that, the first table 17, the spline shaft 16, and the rod servo motor 12 are raised by the lifting mechanism of the rotating unit 2, and the battery 10 held by the first chuck 20 mounted on the first table 17 is held. When reaching a height that is pressed against the fitting part 29a of the upper rotating jig 29 of the jig part 1, the ascent is stopped.
[0022]
Here, in the present embodiment, the fitting portion 29a is provided with an injection port for injecting the electrolyte provided in the cap body and a pin corresponding to the shape of the disposal hole used when the cap body is assembled. Insert and make a temporary bond.
[0023]
In this temporary coupling, the fitting portion 29a is made larger than the upper surface of the battery 10 and provided with small protrusions that are caught around the upper portion of the cap body, and further, the rotary upper jig 29 itself synchronizes with the rod servo motor 12. The same operation can be performed by a configuration including a rotation mechanism.
[0024]
Next, the opening / closing mechanism is actuated to close the opened second chuck 27, and the battery 10 whose rise has stopped is pressed and clamped by the spring body 26 on the side wall of the flat outer can. By pressing and holding, the flat outer can is prevented from expanding by the electrode body housed therein, and the quality of welding with the cap body to be performed thereafter is made uniform and the heat generated by welding is radiated. Can do.
[0025]
As described above, the cap body at the upper end of the battery 10 to be welded is connected to the fitting portion 29 a of the rotation upper jig 29, and the upper portion of the outer can is sandwiched by the second chuck 27. Furthermore, these gripping jigs are provided on the rotary upper jig 29 and the second table 24 whose rotation centers coincide with the rotation axis of the rotary unit 2 and rotate freely. When an arbitrary rotation angle generated by the サ ー ボ servo motor 12 is transmitted to the table 17 via the spline shaft 16, the rotation shaft is pivoted together with the battery 10 fixed to the first chuck 20 provided on the first table. Rotate as
[0026]
Next, welding of the battery 10 held by the holding jig unit 1 connected to the rotating unit 2 described above will be described as an example where the battery 10 has an arc-shaped corner portion.
[0027]
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the battery welding process of the apparatus according to the present embodiment as viewed from above. FIG. 2 (a) shows a state of welding of a straight portion of a flat portion, and FIG. 2 (b) shows an arc corner. It is the figure which showed continuously the rotation of a battery, and the motion of a laser emission lens unit about the condition of the welding of a part.
[0028]
As shown in FIG. 2 (a), when the long side straight line is welded like the flat side surface of the battery 10, the rotation of the vertical servo motor 12 of the rotating unit 2 is the direction in which the long axis of the battery coincides with the X axis. It stops at 10a. Similarly, the Y-axis servo motor 32 of the XY table 14 is stopped at a position where the focal point of the welding laser beam irradiated from the laser emitting lens unit 13 fixed to the pedestal 33 is retracted by a distance that forms an image on the welded portion. Only the X-axis servo motor 31 rotates to move in the positive direction (right direction in the figure) of the X-axis, and the laser emission lens unit 13 emits laser light while moving one-dimensionally from left to right. Then, the welding target portion of the flat portion on one side of the battery is welded.
[0029]
Note that the laser output, the oscillation period, the moving speed, and the like are set so as to achieve optimum welding conditions.
[0030]
Next, in the arc-shaped corner portion adjacent to the flat straight line portion, as shown in FIG. 2B, following the welding shown in FIG. 12 is activated. The movement locus of the welded part due to this rotation is analytically calculated in advance, and based on the calculation result, the rotation angle is converted and the X-axis servo motor 31 and the Y-axis servo motor 32 of the XY table 14 are also converted. Operate.
[0031]
The operation of the servo motor for each axis is performed by moving the laser emitting lens unit 13 in the X-axis direction so that the position of the welding portion that changes due to the movement of the welded portion by the rotation of the battery 10 is first in front of the laser emitting lens unit 13. The X-axis servomotor 31 to be moved to is rotated. Next, the Y-axis servo motor 32 is rotated to a position that is moved backward or forward in the Y-axis direction by the focal length of the laser beam, and the laser emitting lens unit 13 is moved. That is, in the case of FIG. 2B, the X-axis is moved in the negative direction (leftward in the figure), the Y-axis is moved in the backward direction (downward in the figure), and laser beam is irradiated for welding.
[0032]
The control signals to these servo motors are transmitted from a control device (not shown) in synchronization with the rotation angle of the battery corresponding to the progress of the welding process, Output to the Y-axis servo motor 32.
[0033]
As described above, only the X-axis in the straight portion, and in the curved corner portion, the combination of the angle rotation and the movement of the X-axis and the Y-axis, the welded portion along the long side, the corner, the short side, and the outer periphery of the battery 10 Are sequentially welded to complete the welding.
[0034]
When the welding is completed, the second chuck 27 is opened by an opening / closing mechanism (not shown), and the lifting mechanism (not shown) of the rotating unit 2 is operated to lower the first table 17 while holding the battery 10. When the first table 17 is at the lowest position, the first chuck 20 is opened, and a moving mechanism such as a pick-and-place and a belt conveyor carries out the welded battery from the welding apparatus according to the present embodiment to perform the welding process. Complete.
[0035]
In addition, according to this embodiment, when the arc of the corner portion is extremely small, or when it is configured by an arc of only the corner portion without a short side, and in the case of a battery having a polygonal corner portion, rotation is also possible. High-quality welding is possible by precise movement of the square XY table.
[0036]
In this embodiment, the cap body is welded from the side to eliminate the lack of wall thickness. In contrast to conventional welding in which a pair of welding mechanisms that move one axis is provided, in this embodiment, the battery to be welded is rotated by a rotating mechanism that sequentially rotates to an arbitrary angle in a positioned state. However, with only one welding mechanism, the XY table equipped with this one welding mechanism is moved and controlled in the two directions of the X axis and Y axis, and the welding symmetric part is continuously changed to this one welding mechanism. The laser beams emitted from the welding mechanism are regularly and continuously irradiated, and the welding target portion of the battery can be irradiated and homogeneously welded.
[0037]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the welding apparatus according to the present invention irradiates the laser from the side of the flat outer can, and can perform welding regardless of the thickness of the outer can. In addition, by rotating the battery to be welded and changing the position so that the only welding racer irradiation means provided on the XY table always faces the welded part, it is homogeneous from the welding operation on one side to the next side. Therefore, it is possible to perform high-quality and stable battery welding regardless of the shape of the battery.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a welding apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the battery welding state of the apparatus according to the present embodiment as viewed from above.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing a battery weld portion according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a view showing a state of welding of a conventional can-type battery.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 ... gripping jig part,
2 ... rotating part,
3 ... welded part,
10 ... Battery,
11 ... Base body,
12 ... 闔 servo motor,
13 ... Laser emitting lens unit,
14 ... XY table,
15 ... Spline nut,
16 ... spline shaft,
17 ... 1st table,
20 ... first chuck,
21 ... 1st parallel slide,
22 ... 1st frame,
23 ... first bearing body,
24 ... second table,
25 ... the second parallel slide,
26 ... Spring body,
27 ... second chuck,
28 ... the second frame,
29 ... Rotating upper jig,
30 ... second bearing body,
31 ... X-axis servo motor,
32 ... Y-axis servo motor,
33 ... pedestal,
34: Fiber cable.

Claims (3)

A gripping jig part for gripping and positioning an outer can fitted with a cap body of a can-type battery,
A rotating unit that rotates the gripped outer can to an arbitrary angle;
A welding portion composed of a laser emitting means for irradiating a welding laser beam to a connecting portion between the cap body and the outer can, and an XY table mechanism that moves by mounting the laser emitting means;
The laser emitting means is moved by the XY table mechanism so as to face the welded portion and to form an image of the focal point of the laser beam on the welded portion with respect to an arbitrary angle rotated by the rotating portion. A welding apparatus for a can-type battery, which emits a welding laser and welds the entire circumference of the outer can by sequentially changing the angles. The gripping jig portion includes a first chuck body that grips a lower portion of the outer can, and a second chuck body that sandwiches the upper portion.
The first chuck body is connected to the rotating portion to transmit a rotation angle,
The second chuck body is provided on a freely rotating table supported by a bearing body, and the upper portions of the outer cans are attracted to each other by a spring body so as to radiate heat generated during welding. The can-type battery welding apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The can type battery welding apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the rotating unit sequentially rotates the outer can in a stepwise manner and finally rotates 360 degrees to finish the welding of the outer can.

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