CN109128496B

CN109128496B - Welding system

Info

Publication number: CN109128496B
Application number: CN201811270168.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 冉昌林; 王林; 王雄力; 于俊
Original assignee: Wuhan Yifi Laser Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Wuhan Yifi Laser Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2018-10-29
Filing date: 2018-10-29
Publication date: 2024-03-29
Anticipated expiration: 2038-10-29
Also published as: CN109128496A

Abstract

The welding system provided by the invention comprises a welding mechanism and an end cover adding unit; the end cover adding unit comprises an end cover conveying line and an end cover storage assembly, and the end cover storage assembly is erected above the end cover conveying line; the welding mechanism comprises a welding unit and a battery module conveying line, wherein the welding unit is arranged at one side of the tail end of the battery module conveying line, and the end cover conveying line is arranged at one side of the head end of the battery module conveying line; the welding unit comprises a welding head and a welding platform, the welding platform is located above the battery module conveying line, the welding head is located above the welding platform, the welding platform is provided with a hollow pore, a positioning screen plate is embedded in the hollow pore, the positioning screen plate is provided with a plurality of small holes, and the arrangement mode of the small holes is the same as that of the battery cells in the welding flux. The welding system has high welding quality and efficiency of the battery.

Description

Welding system

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of battery assembly equipment, in particular to a welding system.

Background

A battery is a device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy. Which generally includes an electrolyte solution, a metal motor, and a container for holding the electrolyte solution. The battery module is characterized in that a plurality of single battery cells are connected in series/parallel to form a power supply through conductive connecting pieces, and are fixed at a design position through a process and a structure to cooperatively exert the electric energy charge-discharge storage function. The current battery has very wide application and relates to various fields.

In the welding process of the battery module, a plurality of battery cells are required to be arranged into a specific specification according to the design requirement, then the end cover is covered on the upper sides of the battery cells, and the end cover and the upper sides of the battery cells arranged in a plurality of specific modes are integrated. The connection mode of the battery cell and the end cover can be generally divided into three modes of welding, screwing and mechanical cleaning. The welding process can be divided into laser welding, ultrasonic welding and resistance welding. The laser welding matched with the robot gradually becomes the main force of an automatic module production line, and automatic production is easy to realize.

In the welding process, the quality and the welding efficiency of battery welding can be greatly affected due to the accurate alignment of the battery cell position and the welding head position. In the actual welding process, the problem that the quality of a welding line of a battery is not up to standard due to inaccurate positioning of the battery and defective products are easy to occur exists. In addition, when the end cover is covered on the upper sides of the plurality of battery cells, if the end cover is not tightly attached to the battery cells, looseness is easy to occur, and the reject ratio of battery welding is affected; particularly for laser welding, the weldment position needs to be very precise and must be ensured within the focus range of the laser beam.

Disclosure of Invention

First, the technical problem to be solved

The invention provides a welding system which aims at solving the technical problems that a welding position is not easy to align, an end cover is not easy to cling to a battery cell, and the welding efficiency is low.

(II) technical scheme

In order to solve the above technical problems, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a welding system including a welding mechanism and an end cap attaching unit;

the end cover adding unit comprises an end cover conveying line and an end cover storage assembly, and the end cover storage assembly is erected above the end cover conveying line;

the welding mechanism comprises a welding unit and a battery module conveying line, wherein the welding unit is arranged at one side of the tail end of the battery module conveying line, and the end cover conveying line is arranged at one side of the head end of the battery module conveying line;

the welding unit comprises a welding head and a welding platform, the welding platform is located above the battery module conveying line, the welding head is located above the welding platform, the welding platform is provided with a hollow pore, a positioning screen plate is embedded in the hollow pore, the positioning screen plate is provided with a plurality of small holes, and the arrangement mode of the small holes is the same as that of the battery cells in the welding flux.

Further, the battery module conveying line comprises a guide rail and a jacking assembly arranged on the upper side of the guide rail in a sliding mode, a tray used for bearing the battery module is arranged at the upper end of the jacking assembly, and one end of the guide rail is located below the welding platform.

Further, battery module positioning assemblies are arranged on two opposite sides of the tray and used for fixing the battery modules loaded in the tray.

Further, the battery module positioning assembly comprises a tray stop block and a battery module positioning driver for driving the tray stop block to linearly move, the tray stop block protrudes out of the upper end face of the tray, and a driving shaft of the battery module positioning driver faces to the center of the tray.

Further, the battery module conveying line further comprises a processing material conveying line, a battery conveying line and a carrier conveying line which are arranged in parallel, and the processing material conveying line, the battery conveying line and the carrier conveying line are all arranged perpendicular to the guide rail.

Further, the welding unit further comprises a welding head supporting seat, a sliding platform and a welding head mounting shaft;

the sliding platform is connected to the welding head supporting seat in a sliding mode, the welding head installation shaft is connected to the sliding platform in a sliding mode, the welding head is connected to the welding head installation shaft in a sliding mode, and the sliding directions of the sliding platform, the welding head installation shaft and the welding head are perpendicular to each other.

Further, the end cap storage assembly comprises an end cap bin and an end cap dispenser positioned at the bottom of the end cap bin, wherein the end cap dispenser comprises a clamping piece and a lifting piece, and the lifting piece is positioned below the clamping piece.

Further, the end cap cartridge comprises a plurality of posts; the upright posts are mutually parallel and vertically arranged to enclose a column structure for accommodating the end cover;

the outer side of the column structure is provided with a supporting frame; any one of the upright posts is connected to the support frame in a sliding manner through a sliding piece, and a sliding rod of the sliding piece is arranged in the horizontal direction.

Further, the end cover mounting unit further comprises an end cover detection assembly, wherein the end cover detection assembly is fixed above the end cover conveying line and is positioned on one side of the end cover storage assembly, and the end cover bin and the end cover detection assembly are sequentially arranged along the conveying direction of the end cover conveying line.

Further, the end cover adding unit further comprises an end cover pressing assembly and a battery module feeding line; the battery module feeding line and the end cover conveying line are arranged in parallel;

the end cover compacting assembly comprises an end cover material taking bracket, an end cover material taking manipulator and a compacting block; the top beam of the end cover material taking support stretches across the upper parts of the end cover conveying line and the battery module material feeding line, the compression block is connected to the lower side of the top beam through a linear driving piece, and the end cover material taking manipulator is connected to the side of the top beam in a sliding mode.

(III) beneficial effects

The welding system provided by the invention has the following main beneficial effects:

the positioning screen plate is arranged on the welding platform between the welding head and the battery module conveying line, a plurality of small holes on the positioning screen plate are identical to the arrangement mode of the battery cells in the battery module, when the battery module is positioned below the welding platform to execute welding operation, the positions of the battery cells correspond to the positions of the small holes, so that the positioning screen plate not only can play a role in positioning the battery cells and limiting the welding position and the welding form, but also can be used for pressing the end cover to enable the end cover to be tightly attached to the battery cells;

the end cover installs the unit additional and passes through the cooperation of lifting piece and clamping piece, can notice put in the end cover to the end cover conveying line on, after the end cover lid closes battery module top, compresses tightly the end cover through the compact heap, reinforcing end cover and the laminating degree between the electric core.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a top view of a welding mechanism of a welding system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a welding mechanism of a welding system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a mating mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view of an end cap attachment unit according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a feeding manipulator of a welding system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural view of a loading mechanism of a welding system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a feeding mechanism of a welding system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, a welding platform 101, a jacking component 102, a positioning screen 103, a battery module transferring manipulator 104, a battery conveying line 105, a processing material conveying line 106, a carrier conveying line 107, a guide rail 108, a tray 109, a tray stopper 110, a welding head supporting seat 111, a sliding platform 112, a welding head mounting shaft 113 and a welding head 114;

201-end cover conveying lines, 202-end cover bins, 203-end cover feeders, 204-upright posts, 205-supporting frames, 206-battery module feeding lines, 207-battery module transfer lines, 208-end cover material taking supports, 209-end cover material taking manipulators, 210-battery core feeding platforms, 211-carrier circulating platforms, 212-first driving components, 213-second driving components, 214-third driving components, 215-fourth driving components, 216-material feeding manipulators, 217-supporting plates, 218-material discharging net plates, 219-material taking heads, 220-guide supporting rods, 221-fixing plates, 222-sucker driving components, 223-supporting plate driving components, 224-driving component fixing frames, 225-first supporting platform fixing frames, 226-second supporting platform fixing frames and 227-supporting platform driving components;

301-portal frame, 302-material transfer manipulator, 303-electricity core feeding bin, 304-electricity core storage bin, 305-empty disc storage bin, 306-trolley positioning unit.

Detailed Description

The following describes in further detail the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings and examples. The following examples are illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

In the description of the invention, it should be noted that the terms "first," "second," and "second," are used for clarity in describing the numbering of product components and do not represent any substantial distinction, unless explicitly stated or defined otherwise. The terms "front" and "rear" are used in a conventional sense for the structure of the product. "last", "next" are described based on the arrangement order. The directions of the upper and the lower are all the directions shown in the drawings. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art according to the specific circumstances.

It should be noted that unless explicitly stated or limited otherwise, the term "coupled" is to be construed broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly coupled, detachably coupled, or integrally coupled; can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium. The specific meaning of the terms in the invention will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art in a specific context.

The embodiment provides a welding system, which comprises a feeding mechanism, a matching mechanism and a welding mechanism. The feeding mechanism is used for automatically and continuously conveying the electric core to the assembling mechanism; the battery module group mechanism is used for distributing the plurality of battery cells distributed by the feeding mechanism according to the battery specification required to be prepared, and is used for obtaining battery modules with different specifications by group, for example, square battery modules consisting of nine battery cells in three rows and three columns are obtained by group; and conveying the assembled battery modules to a welding mechanism for welding, and welding the battery modules with the battery cores together for preparing the battery.

The feeding mechanism is used for conveying the electric core to the matching mechanism; in order to facilitate continuous and automatic feeding to the assembling mechanism, a battery cell feeding bin and a battery cell storage bin are configured. The battery cell feeding bin and the battery cell storage bin are arranged side by side; when the battery cell is conveyed to the battery cell feeding bin by other battery cell conveying mechanisms, the battery cell can be conveyed to the battery cell storage bin at the same time. The battery cells conveyed to the battery cell feeding bin can be transported to a battery cell feeding platform by a feeding manipulator, and battery modules with different specifications are assembled; the electric core in the electric core storage bin can be temporarily stored in the electric core storage bin, and when the mechanism for conveying the electric core is used for taking the electric core from the electric core centralized storage position, the electric core in the electric core storage bin can be moved to the electric core feeding bin so as to continuously feed the electric core into the electric core feeding bin.

The upper part of the battery cell storage bin is provided with a sensor; the distance between the inductive probe of the sensor and the bottom of the battery cell storage bin is smaller than the distance between the uppermost battery cell and the bottom of the battery cell storage bin when the battery cell storage bin is full of materials. For example, when the battery cell storage bin can stack six layers of battery cells along the vertical direction at most, the distance between the sensing probe of the sensor and the bottom of the battery cell storage bin is smaller than the distance between the upper end surface of the uppermost battery cell and the bottom of the battery cell storage bin. The uppermost layer is taken as a sixth layer, the position of the sensing probe of the sensor can be correspondingly positioned in the height range of the sixth layer of electric core, the height range of the fifth layer of electric core and the like, and the sensing probe can be positioned in the height range of the first layer of electric core by analogy, namely, the distance between the sensing probe and the bottom of the electric core storage bin is smaller than the distance between the upper end face of the first layer of electric core and the bottom of the electric core storage bin.

When the sensing probe of the sensor is arranged in the height range corresponding to the first layer of the battery cells, and when the sensor senses that no battery cells exist in the battery cell storage bin, six layers of battery cell materials can be conveyed into the battery cell storage bin; when the sensing probe of the sensor is arranged in the height range corresponding to the second layer of the electric core, at least five layers of electric core materials can be conveyed into the electric core storage bin when the sensor senses that no electric core materials exist in the position of the electric core storage bin. And by analogy, through different setting positions of the sensing probe of the sensor and different control modes, the battery core material can be timely conveyed into the battery core storage bin. Wherein, also can all correspond in the high within range of every layer of electric core material in electric core storage silo and set up a sensor, along vertical direction promptly, set up a plurality of sensors in electric core storage silo's side to the electric core storage volume in the accurate control electric core storage silo.

The assembling mechanism comprises an end cover adding unit, a material taking and supplementing unit and an assembling unit. The matching unit is used for matching the battery cells to obtain battery modules with different specifications. The material taking and supplementing unit is used for checking the assembled battery module, supplementing the missed battery cells or taking out the redundant battery cells, or taking/supplementing the material at a specific position according to the specification requirement of the assembled battery module, for example, for square specifications of three rows and three columns of nine battery cells, the battery cells positioned at the intersection point of two diagonal lines need to be taken out according to the specification requirement of the battery to be prepared. The battery additional installation unit is used for directly adding an end cover to the battery module obtained after the assembly unit is assembled, or adding the end cover to the battery module obtained after the assembly unit is assembled and the material supplement unit is used for taking/supplementing the material, and the battery module obtained after the end cover is added is conveyed to the welding mechanism to execute welding operation. Wherein, in order to facilitate the loading and conveying of the battery module, make the assembly mechanism close to the head end of the battery module conveying line; specifically, the end cover conveying line is made to be close to the head end of the battery module conveying line, and the welding unit is made to be close to the tail end of the battery module conveying line, so that the battery module with the end cover added is conveyed to the welding unit through the battery module conveying line to execute welding operation.

The matching unit comprises a battery cell feeding platform and at least one feeding manipulator. The battery cell feeding bin and the feeding manipulator are positioned at one side of the upper end of the battery cell feeding platform; in order to facilitate the compact structure, the battery cell feeding bin and the welding mechanism are preferably positioned on two opposite sides of the battery cell feeding platform, and the welding mechanism is positioned on one side of the tail end of the battery cell feeding platform. And the feeding mechanical arm positioned between the battery cell feeding bin and the battery cell feeding platform grabs the battery cells in the battery cell feeding bin onto the battery cell feeding platform, and the battery modules with different specifications are obtained by matching. The position of the feeding manipulator can be flexibly set, and the condition that the battery cell is grabbed onto the battery cell feeding platform in the battery cell feeding bin can be met.

The feeding unit comprises a visual detection assembly and a feeding mechanical arm. The end cover adding unit comprises an end cover conveying line and an end cover storage assembly, and the end cover storage assembly is erected above the end cover conveying line. And, vision detection subassembly, get the supplementary material manipulator, end cover storage component sets up along the direction of delivery of battery module in proper order. The assembled battery modules are detected by the vision assembly in the conveying process, and if redundant or missing battery cells appear in the battery modules, a material supplementing mechanical arm is used for supplementing materials or taking out the redundant battery cells; or when a battery module with a special shape is required to be configured, for example, when a battery module with a specification of 3×3 is configured and the battery cells at the intersection points of two diagonals are required to be taken out, after the visual detection assembly detects the corresponding battery module, the feeding mechanical arm is used for taking out the battery cells at the intersection points of two diagonals to form the battery module with eight battery cells in three rows and three columns. The battery module after the material taking and supplementing is additionally arranged at the upper end of the battery core in the battery module by the end cover stored in the end cover storage component.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, in one specific embodiment, the welding mechanism includes a welding unit and a battery module transfer line; the welding unit comprises a welding head 114 and a welding platform 101, the welding platform is positioned above the battery module conveying line, the welding head is positioned above the welding platform, the welding platform 101 is provided with a hollow pore, a positioning screen plate 103 is embedded in the hollow pore, the positioning screen plate 103 is provided with a plurality of small holes, and the arrangement mode of the small holes is the same as that of the battery cells in the battery module.

Specifically, the battery module conveyor line is used for conveying assembled battery modules to the welding platform 101, and welding operation is performed by the welding unit located above the welding platform 101. Wherein the welding platform 101 is provided with a hollow pore canal penetrating through the welding platform 101; the axis of the hollow tunnel is typically in the vertical direction. A setting screen 103 is embedded in the hollow pore canal; the positioning screen 103 is arranged perpendicular to the axis of the hollow duct. For example, when the soldering lands 101 are horizontally disposed, the positioning screen 103 is also horizontally disposed.

The positioning screen 103 has a plurality of small holes; the arrangement mode of the small holes on the positioning screen plate 103 is the same as the arrangement mode of the electric cores in the battery module. For example, when the battery module is arranged in a rectangular structure with m rows and n columns, the plurality of small holes are also arranged in a rectangular manner. The number of the small holes can be larger than the number of the electric cores in the battery module, or equal to the number of the electric cores in the battery module with the maximum specification, so that the positioning screen plate 103 can be prevented from being replaced when batteries with different specifications are welded, and the structure of the welding platform 101 is also convenient to simplify.

The size of the small hole is equal to or slightly larger than the size of one end of the battery cell to be welded. When the battery module is conveyed below the welding platform 101, the upper end of the battery module is contacted with the lower end of the positioning screen plate 103, and the electric core corresponds to the position of the small hole on the positioning screen plate 103, so that the welding head 114 and the electric core are not blocked, and the welding of the electric core by the welding head 114 is facilitated. The positioning screen plate 103 is arranged on the welding platform 101, so that the pressing action on the end cover of the battery cell in the battery module can be facilitated; meanwhile, because the small holes on the positioning screen plate 103 are spaced, the mutual adverse effect of the welding state between the adjacent battery cells can be avoided in the welding process, and the effect of limiting the welding position and the welding form is achieved.

In a specific embodiment, the battery module conveying line comprises a guide rail 108 and a jacking assembly 102 slidably arranged on the upper side of the guide rail 108, a tray 109 for bearing the battery module is arranged at the upper end of the jacking assembly 102, and one end of the guide rail is located below the welding platform.

Specifically, the rail 108 and the jacking assembly 102 constitute a battery module processing line. The guide rail 108 is used for driving the jacking component 102 to slide linearly; the guide rail 108 may be a sliding rail, the guide rail 108 or a sliding structure thereof, as long as the jacking assembly 102 can be driven to slide linearly. The jacking component 102 can be a cylinder component, a hydraulic cylinder component and other structures; when the jacking assembly 102 moves below the bonding head 114, the jacking assembly 102 only needs to be able to drive the tray 109 to move in a direction approaching or moving away from the bonding stage 101/bonding head 114.

Take the structure in which the soldering stage 101 is horizontally disposed, the soldering head 114 is downwardly disposed, and the driving shaft of the jacking assembly 102 is vertically upwardly disposed as an example. The guide rail 108 and the tray 109 are horizontally arranged, the jacking assembly 102 is fixed on the upper side of the guide rail 108, and the upper end of a driving shaft of the jacking assembly 102 is fixedly connected with the tray 109. The assembled battery modules are transferred to the tray 109 by other conveying lines or mechanisms, and the jacking assembly 102 carrying the battery modules slides on the guide rail 108 from the head end of the guide rail 108 to the tail end located right below the welding head 114.

After reaching the designated position, the jacking assembly 102 stops horizontal movement; then, the driving shaft of the jacking assembly 102 is jacked upwards to enable the tray 109 to move upwards, so that the battery module is driven to move towards the welding platform 101, and the battery module is enabled to be in contact with the positioning screen plate 103 on the welding platform 101; the positioning screen 103 plays a role in pressing an end cover positioned on the upper side of the battery cell in the battery module, and simultaneously plays a role in positioning, so that the battery module is stopped at a set position, and the welding head 114 performs welding operation on the battery module.

After the welding is finished, the driving shaft of the jacking assembly 102 moves downwards to drive the tray 109 to move downwards, so that the battery module is separated from the positioning screen 103, and the battery module is conveniently moved out from the lower part of the welding platform 101; then, the driving shaft of the jacking assembly 102 stops, the jacking assembly 102 slides along the guide rail 108, the welded battery module is conveyed to the head end of the guide rail 108 from the tail end of the guide rail 108, and then is transferred to other positions by other structures, so that the welding operation is completed. The structure that the guide rail 108 is combined with the jacking component 102 is adopted, so that the position of the battery module is convenient to be converted between other conveying structures and the welding platform 101, and the conveying of the battery module is convenient; meanwhile, the structure of the positioning screen plate 103 on the welding platform 101 is combined, and the end cover compression, welding position or shape limitation of the battery module can be simultaneously realized in the welding process.

In a specific embodiment, battery module positioning assemblies are provided at opposite sides of the tray 109 for fixing the battery modules carried in the tray 109. Specifically, the battery modules to be welded may have different specifications, such as a square structure composed of three rows and three columns of cells, a rectangular structure composed of six rows and three columns of cells, and the like. When welding the battery cells of different specifications, in order to make the battery cells on the tray 109 more stable in the welding or conveying process, battery module positioning assemblies are arranged on two opposite sides of the tray 109 for stabilizing and positioning the battery modules in the tray 109. When the tray 109 has a square structure, the corresponding battery module positioning assemblies may be disposed on four sides of the tray 109, and disposed in two pairs, so as to act on the tray 109 from all directions.

In one specific embodiment, the battery module positioning assembly includes a tray stopper 110 and a battery module positioning driver driving the tray stopper 110 to move linearly, the tray stopper 110 protrudes from an upper end surface of the tray 109, and a driving shaft of the battery module positioning driver faces toward a center of the tray 109.

Specifically, as one of the realizable ways, the tray surface area of the tray 109 may be larger than the cross-sectional area of the battery module of the maximum specification required to be welded, so as to be more stable when carrying the battery module; meanwhile, the battery module positioning assembly can be conveniently arranged. Wherein, the battery module positioning driver can be fixed on the tray 109, and the driving shaft of the battery module positioning driver faces to the center of the tray 109; the movable end of the drive shaft is connected to the tray stop 110.

Taking a square tray structure as an example, one battery module positioning assembly is respectively arranged on four sides of the tray 109; when the battery modules have fewer battery cores and smaller battery specifications, the expansion and contraction amount of the driving shaft of each battery module positioning driver is minimum before the battery modules are placed on the tray 109, and the preset battery modules with various specifications can be accommodated at the moment; when the battery modules are placed on the tray 109, the displacement amount of the driving shaft of the battery module positioning driver is set according to the specifications of the battery modules, and the driving shaft of each battery module positioning driver can push the corresponding tray stop 110 to move towards the center of the tray 109 so as to better fix the battery modules. When the battery modules are welded and conveyed to the head end of the guide rail 108, the driving shaft of each battery module positioning driver can drive the corresponding tray stop block 110 to move in a direction away from the center of the tray 109, so that the welded battery modules can be conveniently taken down from the tray 109.

In a specific embodiment, the battery module conveying line further includes a processing material conveying line 106, a battery conveying line 105 and a carrier conveying line 107, which are disposed parallel to each other, and the processing material conveying line 106 and the guide rail 108 are disposed perpendicular to each other. Specifically, the processing material conveying line 106 is used for conveying the assembled battery modules to the jacking component 102 so as to convey the assembled battery modules to the position below the welding head 114 to perform welding operation; the battery conveying line 105 is used for conveying the welded battery modules to the next processing procedure; the carrier conveying line 107 is used for recovering carriers for carrying the battery modules, so that empty carriers can be circularly used for carrying the battery modules in the assembling process and the welding process.

Specifically, the processing material transfer chain 106, battery transfer chain 105 and carrier transfer chain 107 are parallel to each other and set up, and the transportation of waiting to weld the battery module of being convenient for, simultaneously, can be convenient for the separation and the transportation of the battery module after the welding and the carrier that bears the battery module. After the battery module carried in the carrier performs welding operation, the battery module is conveyed to the head end of the guide rail 108 from the tail end of the guide rail 108, the welded battery module can be removed firstly, and then conveyed to the battery conveying line 105 for the next procedure, and then the carrier is removed, and is conveyed to the carrier conveying line 107 for recycling; alternatively, the battery module and the carrier carrying the battery module may be removed together, and transferred onto the carrier transfer line 107, and then the battery module is transferred onto the battery transfer line 105. The conveying directions of the processing material conveying line 106 and the battery conveying line 105 may be the same, and the conveying direction of the carrier conveying line 107 may be opposite to the conveying direction of the battery conveying line 105, and may be adjusted according to actual requirements.

In a specific embodiment, the welding unit further comprises a welding head support 111, a sliding platform 112 and a welding head mounting shaft 113; the sliding platform 112 is slidably connected to the welding head support base 111, the welding head mounting shaft 113 is slidably connected to the sliding platform 112, the welding head 114 is slidably connected to the welding head mounting shaft 113, and the sliding directions of the sliding platform 112, the welding head mounting shaft 113 and the welding head 114 are perpendicular to each other.

As one of the realizations, the welding head support 111 may be fixed to a bottom surface or other structure, and a length direction thereof may be horizontally provided with a rail at an upper side thereof, and correspondingly, a slide rail is provided at a lower side of the slide platform 112 such that the slide platform 112 can slide along the rail. The sliding platform 112 and the welding head supporting seat 111 may be disposed perpendicular to each other, and the length direction of the sliding platform 112 is along the horizontal direction.

Similarly, the welding head mounting shaft 113 is slidably disposed on the sliding platform 112, and the welding head mounting shaft 113 is vertically disposed, and the welding head 114 is slidably disposed on the welding head mounting shaft 113. The sliding arrangement mode of the welding head mounting shaft 113 and the sliding platform 112, and the sliding arrangement mode of the welding head 114 and the welding head mounting shaft 113 may be the same as or different from the structure of the sliding platform 112 slidably disposed on the welding head supporting seat 111, so long as the relative sliding movement can be satisfied, and the sliding directions of the sliding platform 112, the welding head mounting shaft 113 and the welding head 114 are perpendicular to each other, so as to satisfy the three-dimensional movement of the welding head 114.

In a specific embodiment, a battery module transfer robot 104 is provided on one side of the guide rail 108 for moving in or out the battery modules in the tray 109. Specifically, the battery module transferring manipulator 104 is configured to transfer the assembled battery modules and the carriers carrying the battery modules conveyed on the processing material conveying line 106 together into a tray 109 on the upper side of the jacking assembly 102; after the welding operation is performed, the carrier and the welded battery module are transferred to the carrier transfer line 107 and the battery transfer line 105, respectively. The number of the battery module transferring manipulators 104 can be reasonably set according to practical situations, so long as the conveying of the battery modules and/or the carriers can be satisfied, and the welding of the battery modules can be conveniently and smoothly carried out.

In a specific embodiment, the guide rail 108, the jacking assembly 102 and the tray 109 form a battery module processing line, and there are at least two battery module processing lines, and there are at least two welding platforms 101; the at least two welding platforms 101 are arranged side by side, and the conveying direction of the battery module processing line is perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the at least two welding platforms 101; any welding platform 101 is correspondingly provided with a battery module processing line.

Specifically, a structure including two sets of battery module processing lines and two welding stages 101 will be described as an example. When there are two battery module processing lines, the first battery module processing line and the second battery module processing line can be respectively used. The first battery module processing line comprises a first guide rail, a first jacking component and a first tray; the first jacking component is arranged on the upper side of the first guide rail in a sliding manner, and the first tray is fixed on the upper side of the first jacking component; the second battery module processing line comprises a second guide rail, a second jacking component and a second tray; the second jacking component is arranged on the upper side of the first guide rail in a sliding mode, and the second tray is fixed on the upper side of the second jacking component.

The first guide rail and the second guide rail are arranged in parallel. Two welding platforms 101 are arranged side by side; and, the first guide rail and the second guide rail are disposed perpendicular to the line connecting the two soldering lands 101. It is understood that the two welding platforms 101 may be combined into one platform, that is, two hollow channels are disposed on the same platform, and the positioning screen 103 is disposed in each of the two hollow channels.

The bond head support 111 and the guide rail 108 are located on opposite sides of the bond platform 101 and the bond head 114 is located above the bond platform 101. The first battery module and the first carrier carrying the battery module on the processing material conveying line 106 are transferred to the first tray and conveyed to the lower part of the welding head 114 to perform welding operation; at the same time, the second battery module and the second carrier carrying the second battery module on the processing material conveying line 106 are transferred onto the second tray and conveyed to the lower side of the welding head 114.

During the welding of the first battery module, the second battery module and the second carrier are transferred to the lower part of the welding head 114; the same welding head 114 can be used to weld the second battery module immediately after the first battery module is welded. Meanwhile, the welded first module is conveyed to the battery conveying line 105; the first tray may be used to transfer the next battery module. By means of the circulation, the welding efficiency of the battery module can be effectively improved, and the waiting time of the welding head 114 in the conveying process of the battery module can be reduced.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, in one particular embodiment, the end cap add-on unit includes an end cap transfer line 201 and an end cap storage assembly; the end cap storage assembly is erected above the end cap conveyor line 201; the end cap storage assembly comprises an end cap cartridge 202 and an end cap dispenser 203 positioned at the bottom of the end cap cartridge 202, the end cap dispenser 203 comprising a clamp and a lift, and the lift being positioned below the clamp.

Specifically, the end cap storage assembly is erected above the end cap transfer line 201 such that the end cap magazine 202 and the end cap dispenser 203 are both located above the end cap transfer line 201. The end cover bin 202 is of a structure with openings at the upper and lower sides; during charging, the end cover is added from the upper end of the end cover bin 202, and during discharging, the end cover is discharged from the lower end of the end cover bin 202. The end cover bin 202 is used for storing end covers, and the end covers stored in the end cover bin 202 can be fed manually or through other automatic feeding structures. The end caps added to the end cap magazine 202 are stored in the end cap magazine 202 in a vertically stacked manner, and a plurality of end cap magazines 202 may be provided along the length direction or the conveying direction of the end cap conveying line 201, or only one end cap magazine 202 may be provided, and the end cap magazines 202 may accommodate a plurality of end caps side by side along the length direction or the conveying direction of the end cap conveying line 201.

Preferably, a plurality of end cap bins 202 are arranged side by side, any end cap bin 202 is in the same horizontal direction and only accommodates one end cap, any end cap is horizontally placed, and a plurality of end caps are stacked and accommodated in the end cap bin 202 along the vertical direction. After the end caps are added to the end cap bin 202, the end cap dispenser 203 located at the bottom of the end cap bin 202 may dispense the end caps one by one. One or more of the plurality of end cap cartridges 202 may be in the form of a coordinated end cap delivery, either one end cap cartridge 202 delivering an end cap or multiple end cap cartridges 202 delivering end caps simultaneously.

Specifically, the end cap dispenser 203 includes a clamp and a lift; the lifting piece is positioned below the clamping piece. Wherein, at least one clamping piece and at least one lifting piece are arranged. The lifting member may comprise two lifting arms; one lifting arm is provided on each of opposite sides of the bottom of the end cap cartridge 202. Either lifting arm may include a pallet and a pallet driver that drives the pallet in a linear motion. The supporting plate is horizontally arranged, so that the plate surface of the supporting plate is along the horizontal direction; the end cover is placed on the supporting plate. The drive shafts of the pallet drive are horizontally disposed and the pallets of the two opposite lift arms are adjacent to each other and are movable in a direction toward or away from the axis of the end cap magazine 202.

The clamping member may comprise two clamping arms; one clamping arm is provided on each of opposite sides of the bottom of the end cap cartridge 202. Any clamping arm comprises a clamping plate and a clamping plate driver for driving the clamping plate to move linearly. The drive shaft level of splint driver sets up, and splint vertical setting makes the face of splint can laminate with the side of end cover. When the two clamping plates are close to each other, the clamping of the end cover can be realized from the side of the end cover; away from each other, the end cap can be dropped down. And the distance between the upper end face of the supporting plate and the lower end face of the clamping plate is larger than or equal to the thickness of one end cover and smaller than the sum of the thicknesses of the two end covers.

The following will take the structure of one lifting member and one holding member as an example. When the end cover does not need to be put in, the supporting plates of the lifting pieces move in the direction close to the axis of the end cover bin 202, so that the distance between the two supporting plates is smaller than the length/width of the end cover, the end cover is convenient to put above the supporting plates, and the end cover cannot fall onto the end cover conveying line 201; at this time, the clamping plates of the two clamping members may or may not clamp the end cover from the side of the end cover.

When the end cover needs to be thrown downwards, the clamping plates of the clamping pieces can clamp the end cover from the side of the end cover. Because the spacing between the clamping plate and the supporting plate in the vertical direction is equal to or greater than the thickness of one end cover and less than the sum of the thicknesses of the two end covers, when the clamping plate clamps the end covers from the side, the lower part of the clamping plate is provided with only one end cover which is directly placed above the supporting plate, and the clamping plate does not clamp the end covers. At this time, the carrier of the lift is moved in a direction away from the axis of the cap magazine 202, and the lowermost cap of the cap magazine 202 slides down and onto the cap transfer line 201. The above operation is repeated, and the cap dispenser 203 dispenses caps one by one onto the cap transfer line 201.

The end caps fed onto the end cap transfer line 201 are transferred from the end cap transfer line 201 to the next process step. It will be appreciated that the end cap conveyor line 201 may be used only for conveying end caps, and the end cap conveyor line 201 may also be used for conveying battery modules, i.e. assembled battery modules are transferred to the end cap conveyor line 201, and when the battery modules are conveyed on the end cap conveyor line 201, the end cap bin 202 and the end cap dispenser 203 located above the end cap conveyor line 201 drop the end caps one by one downward, so that the end caps are covered on the battery modules conveyed on the end cap conveyor line 201, and then conveyed to a welding mechanism or other mechanisms for further processing. In order to facilitate the convenience of the additional installation of the end cover of the battery module and facilitate the development of other matching processes, the end cover conveying line 201 is preferably only used for conveying the end cover, namely, the end cover is put on the end cover conveying line 201 from the end cover bin 202 through the end cover dispenser 203, the end cover conveying line 201 conveys the end cover to other positions, and then the end cover is covered on the battery module.

In a particular embodiment, the end cap cartridge 202 includes a plurality of posts 204; the plurality of upright posts 204 are mutually parallel and vertically arranged to enclose a column structure for accommodating the end cover; the outer side of the column structure is provided with a supporting frame; any upright 204 is slidably connected to the support frame through a sliding member, and a sliding rod of the sliding member is disposed along a horizontal direction.

Specifically, the end cap cartridge 202 is exemplified as a square cylinder structure. The end cap bin 202 is configured to accommodate an end cap and has a column structure formed of four columns 204, where the four columns 204 are all vertically disposed and parallel to one another. A support 205 is provided on the outer side of the column structure formed by the four columns 204. The support 205 may be four support columns or other structures, taking the structure of four support columns as an example, the four support columns enclose the outer side of the column structure formed by the four columns 204, and the four support columns are vertically arranged and parallel to each other. Any of the posts 204 may be connected directly to the corresponding support column by a slider such that the posts 204 can slide toward or away from the corresponding support column, or away from or toward the axis of the end cap cartridge 202. When the upright posts 204 slide in a direction close to the corresponding support posts or far from the axis of the end cover bin 202, the cross-sectional area of the column structure enclosed by the four upright posts 204 is increased, so that an end cover with larger specification can be accommodated; as the posts 204 slide away from the corresponding support posts or toward the axis of the end cap cartridge 202, the cross-sectional area of the column mechanism enclosed by the four posts 204 decreases for accommodating smaller gauge end caps.

It will be appreciated that, as another implementation, two support columns on the same side of the end cap cartridge 202 are connected by a first cross bar, and two uprights 204 on the same side of the two support columns are respectively connected to the first cross bar by a slider; two support columns positioned on the other side of the end cover bin 202 are connected through a second cross bar, and two upright columns 204 on the same side as the two support columns are respectively connected to the second cross bar through sliding parts. By adjusting the positions of the four upright posts 204 or the positions of two upright posts 204, the accommodating space of the end cover bin 202 is adjusted to meet the requirements of accommodating end covers with different specifications. The structure of the support frame 205 of the end cap cartridge 202 and the manner of engagement between the posts 204 and the support frame 205 are not specifically illustrated. Different end cap cartridge 202 configurations may be selected depending on the changing requirements of the cell specifications to be produced.

In a specific embodiment, the end cap add-on unit further comprises an end cap detection assembly; the end cover detection assembly is fixedly arranged above the end cover conveying line 201 and is positioned on one side of the end cover storage assembly, and the end cover bin and the end cover detection assembly are sequentially arranged along the conveying direction of the end cover conveying line. Wherein the end cap detection assembly is configured to detect a depth of a recess in the end cap to determine a front or back face of the end cap. In particular, the end cap detection assembly may employ a height sensor. Because the front and the back of end cover are provided with the sunken of different degree of depth, positive sunken setting suits with the upper end structure of electric core in the battery module, when the end cover lid of being convenient for closes to the battery module upside, can laminate mutually with electric core in the battery module.

Because the orientation of the front face of the end cover is not judged when the end cover is added into the end cover bin 202 through manual work or other automatic adding structures, the depth of the recess of the end cover is detected through the end cover detection assembly, and whether the front face of the end cover faces downwards is judged, so that the end cover detection efficiency can be improved, and the reject ratio of the battery is reduced. If the front surface of the end cover faces downwards, the end cover is put on the end cover conveying line 201 so as to be covered on the battery module; if the back of the end cap is facing downward, the end cap is removed from the end cap transfer line 201. Wherein, the end cover detection assembly is located end cover and stores subassembly one side, and end cover stores subassembly and end cover detection assembly and sets up along the direction of delivery of end cover transfer chain 201 in order. That is, after the end cover is put on the end cover conveying line 201 by the end cover storage component, the end cover detection component detects the recess on the end cover, and judges whether the front surface of the end cover faces downwards.

In a specific embodiment, the end cap addition unit further includes an end cap compression assembly and a battery module feed line 206; the battery module feeding line 206 and the end cover conveying line 201 are arranged in parallel;

the end cover compacting assembly comprises an end cover material taking bracket 208, an end cover material taking manipulator 209 and a compacting block; the top beam of the end cover material taking support 208 spans the upper parts of the end cover conveying line 201 and the battery module material feeding line 206, the compression block is connected to the lower side of the top beam through a linear driving piece, and the end cover material taking manipulator 209 is connected to the side of the top beam in a sliding manner.

In the scheme of the invention, a battery module feeding line 206 arranged in parallel with an end cover conveying line 201 is used for conveying assembled battery modules, the end cover conveying line 201 is only used for conveying end covers, and the end covers are transferred from the end cover conveying line 201 to the upper side of the battery module feeding line 206 through an end cover taking manipulator 209 and are covered on the upper side of the battery modules conveyed on the battery module feeding line 206. The end cover material taking manipulator 209 is arranged on the top beam of the end cover material taking bracket 208 in a sliding manner, so that the end cover material taking manipulator 209 can slide along the length direction of the top beam, and further slide from the upper part of the end cover conveying line 201 to the upper part of the battery module material feeding line 206; the end cap take out bracket 208 includes a top cap and top cap legs at both ends of the top cap, one of which may be directly secured to the sides of the end cap transfer line 201 and the other of which is secured to the sides of the battery module feed line 206 such that the top cap spans over the end cap transfer line 201 and the battery module feed line 206.

The lower side of the top beam is fixedly provided with a compression block; the compaction block is connected with the top beam through a linear driving piece. The driving shaft of the linear driving piece is vertically arranged, and the movable end of the driving shaft is connected with the compression block. The compression block is located above the battery module feed line 206. The end cover material taking manipulator 209 and the compaction block are sequentially arranged along the conveying direction of the battery module material feeding line 206; after the end cover material taking manipulator 209 grabs the end cover on the end cover conveying line 201 and covers the end cover to the upper side of the battery module on the battery module feeding line 206, the linear driving piece drives the compressing block to move downwards, so that the compressing block compresses the end cover downwards, and the end cover is attached to the battery core of the battery module more stably and tightly. Wherein, in order to avoid the damage that the compact heap caused the electric core in the end cover process of compressing tightly, the downside of compact heap can set up the elastic layer to reduce the compact heap and compress tightly the excessive collision effect of in-process to the electric core. The end cover material taking manipulator 209 is slidably arranged at the side of the top beam, and the compressing block is arranged below the top beam, so that the compressing block is driven by the linear driving piece to move in the vertical direction so as to execute compressing action.

Wherein, for the convenience of compact structure, a battery module transfer line 207 is also arranged; the battery module transfer line 207 and the battery module feeding line 206 are disposed parallel to each other, and the conveying directions thereof are opposite, and the battery modules on the battery module transfer line 207 are conveyed to the welding structure. The battery module transfer line 207 and the processing material conveying line 106 of the welding mechanism can be the same conveying line, and can also be two conveying lines which are close to each other from beginning to end, namely, the tail end of the battery module transfer line 207 is close to the head end of the processing material conveying line 106, and the battery module transfer line 207 and the processing material conveying line 106 are positioned on the same straight line, so that the battery module conveyed on the battery module transfer line 207 can be directly conveyed to the processing material conveying line 106, and the purpose of continuously conveying the battery module to the battery module conveying line is achieved.

Further, in order to facilitate the cyclic application of the carriers conveyed on the carrier conveying line 107 to the conveying core, the conveying direction of the carrier conveying line 107 may be opposite to the conveying direction of the processing material conveying line 106, so that the carrier conveying line 107 conveys the carriers to the grouping mechanism for cyclic utilization. Specifically, the conveying direction of the carrier conveying line 107 and the conveying direction of the battery module feeding line 206 are the same and parallel to each other, but the carrier conveying line 107 and the battery module feeding line 206 are located in different straight lines. And, set up the carrier and change the material manipulator in the top of carrier transfer chain 107 and battery module material loading line 206 for transfer the carrier on the carrier transfer chain 107 to the battery module material loading line 206. It will be appreciated that when no empty carrier containing a core is transferred from the carrier transfer line 107 to the battery module feed line 206, the empty carrier is located at the head end of the battery module feed line 206. When the empty carrier is transferred to the battery module feeding line 206, the assembled battery cells are grabbed into the carrier on the battery module feeding line 206, and the assembled battery cells in the battery module are placed in the carrier so as to be convenient to be conveyed on each conveying line. The carrier transferring manipulator may be disposed on a gantry spanning the carrier conveying line 107 and the upper portion of the battery module feeding line 206, or may be a multi-dimensional rotating shaft manipulator with other structures, so long as the head end of transferring the empty carrier on the carrier conveying line 107 to the battery module feeding line 206 can be realized.

In a specific embodiment, the pick-and-place feeding unit comprises a visual detection assembly and a pick-and-place feeding manipulator; the visual detection component is fixedly arranged above the battery module feeding line 206, and the visual detection component, the material taking and supplementing manipulator and the end cover material taking support 208 are sequentially arranged along the conveying direction of the battery module feeding line 206;

the feeding mechanical arm is fixed on one side of the battery module feeding line 206, and is used for taking out from the battery module on the battery module feeding line 206 or feeding the battery module with the battery cells according to the detection of the visual detection component.

Specifically, the visual detection component may employ a CCD visual detection device; the assembled battery modules are transferred to the battery module feed line 206. The vision detection assembly monitors the battery modules conveyed on the battery module feeding line 206, and adds or takes out the battery cells to any battery module when the battery cells are in shortage or redundant battery cells, or when the battery cells at specific positions are required to be taken out or are fed in according to the battery specification requirements, a feeding mechanical arm arranged on one side of the battery module feeding line 206 is used for feeding the battery cells to the battery modules. It will be appreciated that, to facilitate the storage of the battery cells after the battery cells are fed or removed, a temporary storage area for the battery cells may be provided on the side of the battery module feeding line 206.

The assembled battery modules are transferred to a battery module feeding line 206 for conveying, and in the conveying process, the visual detection assembly detects the battery modules on the battery module feeding line 206; according to the detection condition of the visual detection assembly, a material supplementing manipulator adds a missing cell into the battery module or takes out redundant cells; then, the end cover on the end cover conveying line 201 is removed by the end cover taking manipulator 209, transferred to the upper side of the battery module feeding line 206 and covered on the upper side of the battery module, and then the end cover is pressed on the battery module by the pressing block. The battery module after the end cover is additionally arranged can be conveyed to a welding mechanism to execute welding operation. The conveying direction of the battery module feeding line 206 and the end cover conveying line 201 may be the same or different. As a specific implementation manner, the conveying direction of the battery module feeding line 206 is the same as that of the end cover conveying line 201, so that the battery module feeding line 206 and the end cover conveying line 201 can be arranged side by side, the field can be saved, and the length of the matching mechanism is reduced.

In a specific embodiment, the material taking and supplementing unit further comprises a battery module stop block and a stop block driving piece; the drive shaft of dog driving piece level sets up, and the direction of delivery of battery module material loading line, and battery module dog is towards battery module material loading line. Specifically, the vision detecting assembly, the battery module stopper, and the end cap feeding and taking manipulator are sequentially arranged along the conveying direction of the battery module feeding line 206. When the vision detection assembly detects that the battery module needs to be fetched or fed, the power cut Chi Mozu is blocked by the battery module stop block, and after the fetching or feeding mechanical arm executes the fetching or feeding, the battery module is continuously conveyed forwards.

As one of the realizations, the battery module stopper may be driven to move linearly by a stopper driving member, the driving shaft of which is horizontally disposed and perpendicular to the conveying direction of the battery module feeding line 206. When the battery module is required to be blocked, the stop block driving battery module drives the battery module stop block to move from the side direction of the battery module feeding line 206 to the position close to the center so as to block the power failure Chi Mozu; when the battery module is not required to be blocked, the battery module stop block is positioned at the side of the battery module feeding line 206, so that the conveying of the battery module is not affected. As another implementation manner, the battery module stop block may adopt a unidirectional rotation structure; the battery module stopper may be rotated from a position perpendicular to the conveying direction of the battery module feeding line 206 toward the conveying direction of the battery module conveying line. When the power failure battery module is not required to be blocked, the battery module stop block flexibly rotates freely along with the conveying of the battery module or rotates to the side of the battery module feeding line 206, and when the power failure battery module is required to be blocked, the stop block rotates to a position perpendicular to the conveying direction of the battery module feeding line 206 and is positioned at the position and does not rotate any more; and after the material taking or feeding is completed, returning to the free rotation state.

In a specific embodiment, the assembly mechanism further comprises an assembly unit, the assembly unit assembly mechanism further comprises a cell loading platform 210 and a loading manipulator 216, and further comprises a first driving assembly 212; the first driving assembly comprises a first driving shaft and a first pushing plate; the first driving shaft is parallel with the length direction of the battery cell feeding platform and is positioned on one side of the battery cell feeding platform, one end of the first driving shaft is fixedly connected with the first pushing plate, the plate surface of the first pushing plate extends from one side of the battery cell feeding platform to the battery cell feeding platform, and the plate surface of the first pushing plate is perpendicular to the length direction of the battery cell feeding platform. The first driving assembly 212 is disposed on one side of the battery cell loading platform 210, and the first driving assembly 212 is configured to push the battery cell to move from the head end of the battery cell loading platform 210 to the tail end of the battery cell loading platform 210, and the loading manipulator 216 is disposed on one side of the battery cell loading platform 210 and near the head end of the battery cell loading platform 210.

The cell loading platform 210 is a cell conveying area, which has a certain length; the first driving assembly 212 may be disposed on the upper side of the cell loading platform 210. As one specific implementation, the first drive assembly 212 includes a first drive assembly body, a first drive shaft, and a first push plate; one end of the first driving shaft is arranged in the first driving assembly body in a sliding manner, the other end of the first driving shaft is fixedly connected with the first push plate, and the first driving shaft is perpendicular to the first push plate. The plate surface of the first push plate is perpendicular to the battery cell feeding platform 210 and perpendicular to the length direction of the battery cell feeding platform 210; the first driving shaft is parallel to the length direction of the cell loading platform 210. The first pushing plate extends from one side of the cell feeding platform 210 to the cell feeding platform 210, so that the first pushing plate is located at the head end of the cell feeding platform 210. The first driving shaft of the first driving assembly 212 drives the first push plate to linearly move along the direction perpendicular to the length direction of the cell feeding platform 210, so as to push the cell on the cell feeding platform 210 to move from the head end to the tail end of the cell feeding platform 210. Preferably, the first driving assembly body is fixedly arranged at the side of the battery cell loading platform 210.

It is understood that carriers of corresponding specifications may be placed on the cell loading platform 210, where the carriers are used for holding the cells. In the solution of the present invention, the feeding manipulator 216 is used to move the power core. The feeding manipulator 216 is disposed at a position of the cell feeding platform 210 near the head end, and can simultaneously grasp a plurality of cells, and can regulate and control single-row or single-grabbing cells, that is, can adjust the number of the cells taken/discharged at a time. For example, a total of 160 cells of 10×16 can be simultaneously grabbed, if a 10×10 battery module is required to be assembled, when the feeding manipulator 216 carries 160 cells and moves above the carrier on the cell feeding platform 210, the feeding manipulator 216 can only put down a total of 10×10 100 cells in the carrier, and still adsorb a total of 10×6 cells on the feeding manipulator 216, waiting to be placed in the next carrier. The corresponding number of battery cells are placed into carriers of corresponding specifications through the feeding manipulator 216, are conveyed to the tail end of the battery cell feeding platform 210, and are transferred into the carriers on the battery module feeding line 206 through the battery cell transferring manipulator, so that assembled battery modules are formed.

The cell feeding platform 210 and the battery module feeding line 206 may be disposed parallel to each other, and the conveying directions thereof are opposite; the electric core transferring manipulator can be arranged at the tail end of the electric core feeding platform 210, and after the assembled battery module on the electric core feeding platform 210 is conveyed to the tail end of the electric core feeding platform 210, when the electric core transferring manipulator transfers to the battery module feeding line 206, the battery module is positioned at the head end of the battery module feeding line 206, and the battery module is conveyed by the battery module feeding line 206 for visual detection, material taking/supplementing, end cover adding and other operations. The temporary storage area of the battery cell for taking the supplementary material can be disposed in the area between the battery cell loading platform 210 and the battery module loading line 206.

In a specific embodiment, the matching unit of the matching mechanism further includes a carrier circulation platform 211, where the carrier circulation platform 211 and the cell feeding platform 210 are arranged side by side; the head end of the battery cell feeding platform 210 and the tail end of the carrier circulating platform 211 are positioned at the same end, and the tail end of the electric wire feeding platform and the head end of the carrier circulating platform 211 are positioned at the same end;

the tail end of the battery cell feeding platform 210 is provided with a second driving assembly 213, and a driving shaft of the second driving assembly 213 is horizontally arranged and is perpendicular to the length direction of the battery cell feeding platform 210;

a third driving component 214 is arranged on one side of the carrier circulating platform 211, the third driving component 214 is close to the head end of the carrier circulating platform 211, and a driving shaft of the third driving component 214 is horizontally arranged and parallel to the length direction of the carrier circulating platform 211;

the tail end of the carrier circulation platform 211 is provided with a fourth driving assembly 215, and a driving shaft of the fourth driving assembly 215 is horizontally arranged and is perpendicular to the length direction of the carrier circulation platform 211.

The second drive assembly 213 includes a second drive assembly body, a second drive shaft, and a second push plate. One end of the second driving shaft is arranged in the second driving assembly body in a sliding manner, the other end of the second driving shaft is fixedly connected with the second pushing plate, and the second driving shaft is perpendicular to the second pushing plate. The second driving shaft is perpendicular to the length direction of the battery cell feeding platform 210; the second push plate is vertically arranged, the plate surface of the second push plate is parallel to the length direction of the battery cell feeding platform 210, and the second push plate extends from the tail end of the battery cell feeding platform 210 to the head end of the battery cell feeding platform 210, so that the second push plate is positioned on one side of the battery cell feeding platform 210 away from the carrier circulating platform 211. When the second driving shaft moves linearly to drive the second pushing plate to move from the side of the battery cell feeding platform 210 away from the carrier circulating platform 211 to the side close to the carrier circulating platform 211, the second pushing plate pushes the empty carrier after the battery cell is taken out from the battery cell feeding platform 210 to the carrier circulating platform 211. The second driving assembly body is preferably fixedly disposed at the head end of the carrier circulation platform 211.

The third drive assembly 214 includes a third drive assembly body, a third drive shaft, and a third push plate. One end of the third driving shaft is arranged in the third driving assembly body in a sliding manner, the other end of the third driving shaft is fixedly connected with the third pushing plate, and the third driving shaft is perpendicular to the third pushing plate. The third driving shaft is parallel to the length direction of the cell feeding platform 210; the third push plate is vertically arranged, the plate surface of the third push plate is perpendicular to the length direction of the carrier circulating platform 211, and the third push plate extends from one side of the carrier circulating platform 211 to the carrier circulating platform 211, so that the third push plate is positioned at the head end of the carrier circulating platform 211. When the third driving shaft moves linearly to drive the third pushing plate to move from the head end to the tail end of the carrier circulating platform 211, the third pushing plate pushes the empty carrier on the carrier circulating platform 211 to the tail end of the carrier circulating platform 211. The third driving assembly body is preferably disposed at a side of the carrier circulation platform 211.

The fourth drive assembly 215 includes a fourth drive assembly body, a fourth drive shaft, and a fourth push plate. One end of the fourth driving shaft is arranged in the fourth driving assembly body in a sliding manner, the other end of the fourth driving shaft is fixedly connected with the fourth pushing plate, and the fourth driving shaft is perpendicular to the fourth pushing plate. The fourth driving shaft is perpendicular to the length direction of the circulating feeding platform; the fourth push plate is vertically arranged, the plate surface of the fourth push plate is parallel to the length direction of the carrier circulating platform 211, and the fourth push plate extends from the tail end of the carrier circulating platform 211 to the head end of the carrier circulating platform 211, so that the fourth push plate is positioned on one side of the carrier circulating platform 211 far away from the cell feeding platform 210. When the fourth driving shaft moves linearly to drive the fourth pushing plate to move from the side of the carrier circulation platform 211 away from the cell loading platform 210 to the side close to the cell loading platform 210, the fourth pushing plate pushes the empty carrier on the carrier circulation platform 211 to the cell loading platform 210 for accommodating the next batch of cells. The fourth driving assembly body is preferably fixedly disposed at the head end of the battery cell loading platform 210.

The cell loading platform 210 and the carrier circulating platform 211 may preferably have the same length; and the two are arranged side by side. A first channel is arranged between the head end of the battery cell feeding platform 210 and the tail end of the carrier circulating platform 211, and a second channel is arranged between the tail end of the battery cell feeding platform 210 and the head end of the carrier circulating platform 211. The first channel and the second channel are only used for illustrating that the mutual transfer of the cells between the cell loading platform 210 and the carrier circulating platform 211 can be realized, and no additional channel is required.

For example, the cell feeding platform 210 and the carrier circulating platform 211 are directly close together, and a grid for separating the tail end of the cell feeding platform 210 and the head end of the carrier circulating platform 211 is not provided between them, so that the carrier on the cell feeding platform 210 can be directly pushed onto the carrier circulating platform 211 through the second driving component 213; similarly, no grid for spacing the tail end of the carrier circulation platform 211 and the head end of the cell loading platform 210 is provided, so that the carriers on the carrier circulation platform 211 can be directly pushed onto the cell loading platform 210 through the fourth driving assembly 215.

Specifically, a plurality of carriers with corresponding specifications are placed on the cell loading platform 210; the battery cells are transferred to the carrier by the feeding manipulator 216, and then the carrier containing the battery cells is pushed by the first driving component 212 to move towards the tail end of the battery cell feeding platform 210. When the battery cells move to the tail end of the battery cell loading platform 210, the battery cell transferring manipulator can transfer all the battery cells in the same carrier to the carrier on the battery module loading line 206 to form a battery module after assembly.

After the battery cells on the carrier are taken out, the empty carrier is pushed onto the carrier circulating platform 211 by the second driving component 213, and is pushed to the tail end of the carrier circulating platform 211 by the third driving component 214; after reaching the tail end of the carrier circulation platform 211, the fourth driving assembly 215 pushes the carrier to the cell feeding platform 210, and the empty carrier reenters the cell feeding platform 210 and is used for accommodating new cells and is reused for matching and conveying the cells.

Wherein, the stroke of the driving shafts of the first driving assembly 212 and the third driving assembly 214 is equal to or greater than the length of the carrier along the length direction of the cell loading platform 210; the stroke of the driving shafts of the second driving assembly 213 and the fourth driving assembly 215 is equal to or greater than the width of the carrier along the width direction of the cell loading platform 210.

In a specific embodiment, the grouping mechanism further comprises a loading manipulator 216; the feeding manipulator 216 is close to the head end of the cell feeding platform 210; the feeding manipulator 216 comprises a support plate 217, a discharging screen 218 and a sucker, wherein the discharging screen 218 is fixed on one side of the support plate 217, the support plate 217 and the discharging screen 218 are arranged in parallel, and the sucker is arranged between the support plate 217 and the discharging screen 218;

the sucking disc includes at least one sucking disc driving piece 222 and at least one taking head 219, and the fixed end of sucking disc driving piece 222 is fixed in on the extension board 217, and the drive shaft of sucking disc driving piece 222 sets up perpendicularly to the otter board 218 of unloading, and the one end of the drive shaft of sucking disc driving piece 222 is connected the one end of taking head 219, and the other end of taking head 219 is towards the mesh of otter board 218 of unloading.

The suction cup downward structure of the loading robot 216 will be specifically described as an example. Referring to fig. 5, the support plate 217, the discharging screen 218 and the suction cup are all horizontally arranged and may be parallel to each other. The support plate 217 is fixed on a manipulator arm of the feeding manipulator 216, and the manipulator arm may adopt a conventional manipulator arm structure, or may adopt an improved structure, as long as flexible movement in multiple dimensions in space can be performed.

For example, the upper side of the plate 217 is fixed to the movable end of the plate drive assembly 223; the driving shaft of the supporting plate driving component 223 is vertically arranged, and one side of the fixed end of the supporting plate driving component 223 is fixed on the driving component fixing frame 224. The driving component fixing frame 224 is slidably disposed on the first supporting platform; the first support platform includes a first support platform mount 225, a second support platform mount 226, and a support platform drive assembly 227. The fixed end of the supporting platform driving assembly 227 and the second supporting platform fixing frame 226 are fixedly disposed on the same side of the first supporting platform fixing frame 225. The second support platform mount 226 and the driving assembly mount 224 are a frame structure having a hollow passage; and, the axis of the hollow channel of the second supporting platform fixing frame 226 is horizontal, two opposite side walls of the second supporting platform fixing frame 226 are provided with sliding ways, and one side wall of the driving component fixing frame 224 passes through the two sliding ways, so that the driving component fixing frame 22 is hung on the second supporting platform fixing frame 226. The movable end of the supporting platform driving component 227 is located in the hollow channel of the second supporting platform fixing frame 226, and one end of the movable end is fixedly connected with the side wall of the driving component fixing frame 224 located in the hollow channel of the second supporting platform fixing frame 226. The first supporting platform fixing frame 225 is slidably arranged on the second supporting platform which is horizontally arranged; the sliding direction of the first support platform fixing frame 225 along the second support platform is perpendicular to the sliding direction of the driving component fixing frame 224 along the second support platform fixing frame 226. The sliding setting may be an existing conventional setting state. Wherein, each driving component or driving piece can be a cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, a servo motor driving component and other driving components.

The unloading net plate 218 can be fixed on the lower side of the support plate 217 through structures such as a guide support rod 220, so that a space is reserved between the unloading net plate 218 and the support plate 217; the suction cups are arranged in the space between the support plate 217 and the discharge screen 218.

The fixed end of the sucker driving piece 222 is fixed on the support plate 217, one end of a driving shaft of the sucker driving piece 222 is positioned in the fixed end of the sucker driving piece 222, and the other end is used as a movable end; the drive shaft is capable of reciprocating. The driving shaft is vertically arranged, and the movable end of the driving shaft is connected with the material taking head 219 to push the material taking head 219 to move up and down. The suction cup may include a plurality of rows of pick heads 219, each row of pick heads 219 may be disposed side by side, and one end of any pick head 219 of any row of pick heads 219 may be fixed to a lower side of a fixing plate 221, and a movable end of a driving shaft of the suction cup driving member 222 is fixedly connected to an upper side of the fixing plate 221. One row of the take-off heads 219 is correspondingly driven by one suction cup drive 222.

When multiple rows of material taking heads 219 and multiple sucker driving pieces are arranged, each row or one material taking head 219 is correspondingly provided with a sucker driving piece 222; and, a chuck drive 222 controls the up and down movement of a row or a head 219 accordingly. As one of the realizations, the suction cup may be directly formed by arranging a plurality of the picking heads 219 in an array. As another implementation manner, the suction cup may also include a plurality of sub-suction cups, and the plurality of sub-suction cups are arranged in parallel. Any sub-suction cup comprises a fixed plate 221 and a plurality of material taking heads 219 arranged side by side/side by side; the fixing plate 221 may have a strip structure, one end of any one of the material taking heads 219 of the sub-sucker is fixed on the lower side of the fixing plate 221, and the plurality of material taking heads 219 of the sub-sucker are all located on the lower side of the fixing plate 221 to form a row or a column.

When one suction cup driving member 222 controls one row of the material taking heads 219, the plurality of suction cup driving members 222 are arranged along the length or width direction of the support plate 217; when one suction cup driving member 222 controls and correspondingly controls the motion of one material taking head 219, the plurality of suction cup driving members 222 may be arranged in an array manner in the same manner as the material taking heads 219.

When the structure of the take-off head 219 and the fixing plate 221 is adopted, any two fixing plates 221 are not connected and each independently operates. The guide strut 220 passes through the fixing plate 221, and the fixing plate 221 can slide with respect to the guide strut 220, thereby achieving the purpose of guiding the vertical movement of the fixing plate 221.

For example, when there are 10 material taking heads 219 in one row and 16 material taking heads 219 in one row, the 10 material taking heads 219 in each row are arranged side by side, the upper end of each material taking head 219 is fixedly connected to the lower side of a fixing plate 221, the upper side of the fixing plate 221 is fixedly connected to a driving shaft of a sucker driving member 222, and the fixing end of the sucker driving member 222 is fixed on the supporting plate 217; and 16 chuck driving members are correspondingly arranged, and the lower side of each chuck driving member 222 is correspondingly provided with a row of material taking heads 219 with the structure. Alternatively, as another implementation manner, each of the material taking heads 219 is correspondingly provided with a sucker driving member 222, the lower end of any material taking head 219 faces the mesh of the unloading screen 218, the upper end of the material taking head 219 is fixedly connected with the driving shaft corresponding to the sucker driving member 222, and the upper end of the sucker driving member 222 is fixedly connected with the support plate 217. The feeding manipulator 216 can grasp at most 160 cells.

Further, the discharge screen 218 has a plurality of mesh openings; the number of meshes may be equal to or greater than the number of pick heads 219; the lower end of any material taking head 219 faces to the mesh on the unloading screen 218, and the aperture of the mesh is smaller than the diameter of the cross section of the battery cell and larger than the diameter of the material taking head 219, so that the material taking head 219 can pass through the mesh, and the battery cell cannot pass through the mesh. When the driving shaft of the chuck driving member 222 pushes the fixing plate 221 to move downward, the material taking head 219 is driven to move downward, and the material taking head 219 passes through the material discharging screen 218, so that the material taking head 219 can absorb the battery cell. When the cell is required to be put down, the driving shaft of the sucker driving member 222 drives the material taking head 219 to move upwards, the material taking head 219 returns to the position above the discharging screen 218, and the cell below the discharging screen 218 cannot pass through the mesh and is separated from the material taking head 219. The pick head 219 may be a magnetic pick head 219 or a vacuum pick head 219. Meanwhile, according to the feeding requirement, the sucker driving pieces and the material taking heads 219 are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence mode, and therefore single control of the material taking heads 219 is achieved. In this particular embodiment, a chuck driving member may be used to control the structure of the row of material taking heads 219, which may meet the conventional production requirements and simplify the structure.

Wherein, for the requirement of joining in marriage of adaptation different specification battery module, when a sucking disc driving piece corresponds the one row of material head 219 of control, can set up two material loading manipulators, two material loading manipulators all set up in the side of electric core material loading platform head end, and make the direction mutually perpendicular of arranging of the sucking disc driving piece of two material loading manipulators. One manipulator can be used for regulating and controlling the length of the arrangement of the electric cores in the battery modules of the required group, and the other manipulator can be used for regulating and controlling the width of the arrangement of the electric cores in the battery modules of the required group. When one chuck driving member corresponds to only one material taking head 219, only one material feeding manipulator needs to be configured.

In a specific embodiment, the feeding mechanism comprises a material cell feeding bin 303, a cell storage bin, a material transferring unit and an empty tray storage bin; the material transfer unit comprises a portal frame 301 and a material transfer manipulator 302 arranged on the upper side of the portal frame 301, wherein a battery cell feeding bin 303, a battery cell storage bin 304 and an empty disc storage bin 305 are arranged on the inner side of the portal frame 301 side by side.

Referring to fig. 6 and 7, a material handling robot 302 is mounted on top of the gantry 301. The device comprises a material grabbing piece, a hanging piece, a supporting beam and two supporting arms which are arranged in parallel; the support arm is fixed in portal frame 301 top, and a supporting beam's one end slides and sets up on a support arm, and the other end slides and sets up on another support arm, and the hanger hangs in supporting beam below, and with supporting beam sliding connection, the material snatchs the piece and is fixed in the hanger bottom, and wherein, the hanger is scalable support, and the three-dimensional motion of manipulator 302 is transported to the material is realized to above-mentioned structure.

The electricity core goes up feed bin 303 and sets up in the one side that is close to material loading manipulator 216, and electricity core storage silo 304 and empty dish storage silo 305 arrange into one row, and the material of being convenient for on the material transfer manipulator 302 with other getting material unit is transported to electricity core goes up feed bin 303 and electricity core storage silo 304. Wherein, the battery cell storage bin 304 can store multiple layers of battery cell materials. In the cell feeding mechanism, the cells are contained in the carriers and transferred from other mechanisms, and then the cells and the carriers containing the cells are carried into the cell loading bin 303 and the cell storage bin 304 together through the material transfer manipulator 302. In the feeding process, all use the carrier of the biggest specification for the electric core quantity that once can carry is many, improves electric core conveying efficiency. The battery cell storage bin 304 can adopt a column structure formed by surrounding four columns, so long as the functions of limiting the position of the battery cell and storing the battery cell can be achieved.

The battery cell storage bin 304 can store multiple layers of battery cells in a stacked manner. The battery cells which are partially conveyed by other material taking units can be stored in the battery cell storage bin 304, and before the battery cells are conveyed by the material taking units from other places, the material transferring manipulator 302 can transfer the battery cells stored in the battery cell storage bin 304 to the battery cell feeding bin 303, and the battery cells are transferred to the battery cell feeding platform 210 by the feeding manipulator 216. In the feeding process, the feeding manipulator 216 only grabs the battery cell, and the empty carrier in the battery cell feeding bin 303 is transferred to the empty tray storage bin 305 by the material transferring manipulator 302. The upper ends of the battery cell feeding bin 303, the battery cell storage bin 304 and the empty disc storage bin 305 are all open, so that the battery cells and/or the carriers can be conveniently taken/put.

Further, the feeding mechanism further comprises a feeding trolley. The upper side of the feeding trolley is provided with a plurality of battery core storage bins in a matrix arrangement, each battery core storage bin can store a plurality of layers of battery cores, and the number of each layer of battery cores is the number of battery cores contained in the carrier with the maximum specification. The battery cells conveyed in the feeding trolley are also placed in the carriers, and the carriers are placed in a stacked mode, so that the battery cells are placed in a stacked mode. The pulley is arranged at the bottom of the feeding trolley, so that the feeding trolley can move conveniently, and the feeding trolley can fully load the battery cells to move to the lower part of the portal frame 301. When the feeding trolley is positioned at the lower part of the portal frame 301, the battery cell feeding bin 303, the battery cell storage bin 304 and the empty disc storage bin 305 are positioned at one side of the feeding trolley.

The material transferring manipulator 302 transfers the battery cells on the feeding trolley to the battery cell feeding bin 303 and the battery cell storage bin 304 together with the carrier; the feeding manipulator 216 transfers the cells in the cell loading bin 303 to the cell loading platform 210, and the empty carriers are transferred to the empty tray storage bin 305. When the empty battery cell storage bin is arranged on the feeding trolley, the carrier in the empty disc storage bin 305 can be transferred to the feeding trolley for accommodating the battery cells again. After all the battery cells on the feeding trolley are moved out, the feeding trolley is moved out from the lower part of the portal frame 301, the battery cells are taken out from the battery cell storage position, and the battery cells are reciprocated in this way, so that the charging of the battery cells is completed; in the process of taking the battery cells from the battery cell storage position, the battery cells in the battery cell storage bin 304 can be used for continuously providing the battery cells for the battery cell feeding platform 210 for continuous feeding.

Further, when the feeding carriage is placed on the lower portion of the portal frame 301, the feeding carriage is placed below the material transfer robot 302. In order to avoid the influence of the sliding position of the feeding trolley on the material taking accuracy of the material transferring manipulator 302, a trolley positioning unit 306 is arranged on the lower side of the portal frame 301. The trolley positioning unit 306 can adopt a cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder and other mechanisms, and one end of a driving shaft of the trolley positioning unit is contacted with the feeding trolley; preferably, four sets of trolley positioning units 306 are adopted, and the driving shafts of the four sets of trolley positioning units 306 face to the feeding trolley; when the driving shafts of the trolley positioning units 306 are horizontally arranged, a set of trolley positioning units 306 can be arranged around the feeding trolley, so that the positioning stability of the feeding trolley is enhanced.

The welding system comprises a feeding structure, a matching mechanism and a welding mechanism, wherein the feeding mechanism adopts a feeding trolley and a material transferring unit, and the structures of a battery cell feeding bin, a battery cell storage bin and an empty disc storage bin so as to realize continuous feeding of the battery cell; the battery module assembling mechanism adopts a feeding mechanical arm, a battery cell feeding platform and a carrier circulating platform, the feeding mechanical arm can singly control the taking and placing of battery cells to realize the assembling of battery modules with different specifications, the battery module assembling capacity of various battery modules with specific requirements is further enhanced by adopting a material taking and supplementing unit, and an end cover adding unit is adopted to complete the battery module assembling process after an end cover is added; and the assembled battery modules are conveyed to a welding mechanism for welding, and a welding platform of the welding mechanism adopts a positioning screen plate structure, so that the end cover can be further pressed, and the limitation of welding positions or forms can be realized.

Finally, the method of the present invention is only a preferred embodiment and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A welding system, comprising a welding mechanism and an end cap attachment unit;

the welding unit comprises a welding head and a welding platform, the welding platform is positioned above the battery module conveying line, the welding head is positioned above the welding platform, the welding platform is provided with a hollow pore canal, a positioning screen plate is embedded in the hollow pore canal, the positioning screen plate is provided with a plurality of small holes, and the arrangement mode of the small holes is the same as that of the electric cores in the welding flux;

The battery module conveying line comprises a guide rail and a jacking assembly arranged on the upper side of the guide rail in a sliding manner, a tray for bearing the battery module is arranged at the upper end of the jacking assembly, and one end of the guide rail is positioned below the welding platform;

the battery module positioning assemblies are arranged on two opposite sides of the tray and are used for fixing the battery modules loaded in the tray;

the battery module positioning assembly comprises a tray stop block and a battery module positioning driver for driving the tray stop block to move linearly, the tray stop block protrudes out of the upper end face of the tray, and a driving shaft of the battery module positioning driver faces to the center of the tray;

the end cover storage assembly comprises an end cover bin and an end cover dispenser positioned at the bottom of the end cover bin, the end cover dispenser comprises a clamping piece and a lifting piece, and the lifting piece is positioned below the clamping piece;

the end cover bin comprises a plurality of upright posts; the upright posts are mutually parallel and vertically arranged to enclose a column structure for accommodating the end cover;

the outer side of the column structure is provided with a supporting frame; any upright post is connected to the support frame in a sliding way through a sliding piece, and a sliding rod of the sliding piece is arranged along the horizontal direction;

The end cover adding unit further comprises an end cover detection assembly, wherein the end cover detection assembly is fixed above the end cover conveying line and is positioned on one side of the end cover storage assembly, and the end cover bin and the end cover detection assembly are sequentially arranged along the conveying direction of the end cover conveying line;

the end cover adding unit further comprises an end cover pressing assembly and a battery module feeding line; the battery module feeding line and the end cover conveying line are arranged in parallel;

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the battery module conveyor line further comprises a processing material conveyor line, a battery conveyor line, and a carrier conveyor line disposed parallel to each other, and wherein the processing material conveyor line, the battery conveyor line, and the carrier conveyor line are disposed perpendicular to the guide rail.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the welding unit further comprises a welding head support, a sliding platform, and a welding head mounting shaft;