CN111081911A

CN111081911A - Method for producing an assembly comprising a battery cover and a battery terminal

Info

Publication number: CN111081911A
Application number: CN201911001400.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: A.林克; A.林格尔
Original assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Current assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
Priority date: 2018-10-22
Filing date: 2019-10-21
Publication date: 2020-04-28
Also published as: DE102018218050A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for producing an assembly (12) comprising a battery cover (10) and a battery terminal (22), having at least the following method steps: a) placing the battery terminals (22) on a conveying device (30), b) applying an adhesive (20) to the lower region (24) of the battery terminals (22), c) placing a battery cover (10) on the side of the battery terminals (22) on which the adhesive (20) is located, d) hardening the adhesive (20) in such a way that e) the hardening step d is carried out by guiding an assembly (12) consisting of the battery cover (10) and the battery terminals (22) bonded thereto through a hardening device (36), or f) the hardening step d is carried out by means of a heated die (54, 56) which can be moved toward and away from the assembly (12) transported on the conveying device (30), the assembly consisting of the battery cover (10) and the battery terminals (22) bonded thereto.

Description

Method for producing an assembly comprising a battery cover and a battery terminal

Technical Field

The invention relates to a method for producing an assembly comprising a battery cover and a battery terminal, and to the use of the assembly on a battery cell.

Background

US2012/0114989 a1 relates to a storage system for electrical energy. The storage system comprises at least one energy storage element in the form of a coil, which is accommodated inside a housing. This housing accommodates an electrical energy storage element of coil-shaped configuration in a main body of the housing, which comprises at least one cover. The cover is mounted on the end of the body of the housing and is electrically connected to the electrical connection for the coil-shaped electrical energy storage element. The cover is connected to the body of the housing by an adhesive. The solution according to US2012/0114989 a1 is particularly suitable for producing electrical energy storage units, such as super capacitor batteries or generators.

US 2016/0197317 a1 relates to a lithium ion battery cell with multiple sealing structures. The lithium ion battery cell comprises a prismatic housing which accommodates the active components (die aktiven komponenten) of the lithium ion battery cell. The lithium ion battery cell also includes a terminal with a terminal fitting that extends through the opening in the housing and is electrically connected with the active component. The first sealing element is designed in such a way that a first part of the joint is sealed against the housing, and a second sealing element is provided, which extends around a second part of the joint and seals against the first sealing element. The second sealing element is formed from a curable resin having adhesive properties and withstands an electrolyte which may come out of the lithium ion battery cell and is thus obtained such that this electrolyte prevents moisture from entering the lithium ion battery cell.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention relates to a method for producing an assembly comprising a battery cover and a battery terminal, wherein at least the following method steps are carried out:

a) the battery terminals are placed on the delivery device,

b) an adhesive is applied to the area under the cell terminals,

c) the battery cover is placed on the side of the battery terminal where the adhesive is located,

d) the adhesive is hardened in such a way that

e) The hardening step d) is carried out by guiding the assembly of the cell cover and the cell terminals bonded thereto through a hardening device, or

f) Said hardening step d) is carried out by means of a heated die able to approach (austellbar) or to move away (austellbar) the assembly transported on the transport means, the assembly being constituted by a cell cover and a cell terminal bonded to this cell cover.

The solution proposed according to the invention achieves a rapid and cost-effective hardening of the adhesive in the battery cover. In a continuous production process, particularly short cycle times and thus high yields can be achieved by the method proposed according to the invention. Furthermore, the method proposed according to the invention is extremely cost-effective in terms of external equipment and allows the production of an assembly comprising a cell cover and a cell terminal bonded to this cell cover in a short cycle time.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the components accommodated on the conveyor are transported in the conveying direction through a tunnel-shaped curing device.

This offers the advantage that the assembly comprising the cell cover and the cell terminals adhesively bonded thereto can be inductively radiated from all sides, whereby a reliable hardening of the adhesively bonded connection is achieved and waste can be avoided.

According further to the method proposed according to the invention, an adhesive is applied to the lower region of the cell terminals, wherein a peripheral edge (Urandung) can be formed there, by means of which a groove is advantageously formed, which can be used by means of an adhesive feed device for applying a precisely defined adhesive inventory that makes reliable bonding possible.

In the method according to the invention, according to method step f) a heated die is used, which simultaneously actuates the upper side and/or the lower side of the conveying device by an approaching movement. This makes it possible to transfer heat to the component to be hardened by thermal conduction. After the heated dies have approached a specific action time of the component to be hardened, the release operation is carried out simultaneously for both heated dies, wherein a release movement is carried out from the top and bottom of the conveying device back to the initial position of the first and second heated dies.

Further according to the method proposed according to the invention, the temperature level can be adjusted between 50 ℃ and 300 ℃ by the curing device depending on the adhesive used and the conveying speed.

Further according to the method proposed according to the invention, the first heated die and the second heated die may each have a defined temperature, which can be adjusted between 50 ℃ and 300 ℃.

Further according to the proposed method according to the invention, the assembly comprising the battery cover and the battery terminals is hardened for a time interval. This time interval depends on the conveying speed, the temperature and the respectively used adhesive. The time interval ranges from 1 minute up to 60 minutes.

In the method proposed according to the invention, a controlled gap remains in the lower region of the cell terminals provided with adhesive during the joining of the cell covers according to method step c). This adjusted gap serves to accommodate a well-defined volume of adhesive, so that no excess adhesive can escape upwards through the peripheral edge in the lower region of the cell terminals.

In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the transport of the components in the transport direction on the transport device takes place periodically.

Based on the timing in the conveying direction, the respective components can be conveyed sequentially, wherein the adhesive input, the battery cover input, and the hardening process of the components can be performed simultaneously while the feeding is suspended.

The invention also relates to the use of an assembly produced according to one or more of the preceding method claims for a battery unit for an Electric Vehicle (EV), a Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) and/or a PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle).

The advantage of the solution proposed according to the invention is firstly that in a sequential timed process, an assembly comprising a cell cover and a cell terminal to be bonded to the cell cover can be produced in a short cycle time. In addition to the short cycle times that can be achieved when using the solution proposed according to the invention, a cost advantage can be achieved in particular, since the method proposed according to the invention requires less complex external equipment, which involves the adhesive input and the battery cover input or the removal of the hardened component. It is also to be adhered to that the method proposed according to the invention provides a rapid and cost-effective production possibility for the components of the battery cell using a tunnel-shaped curing device using an approaching and moving heated die.

The adhesive feed, the battery cover feed from the feed station and the curing process can advantageously be carried out in each feed pause by process control on the different components. If the processes or method steps are synchronized at the individual workstations, a continuous production process, which is distinguished by a particularly low reject rate, can be ensured depending on the timing of the feed of the conveyor.

Drawings

The invention will be explained in more detail below with the aid of the drawing.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a ready assembly including a battery cover and battery terminals;

fig. 2 shows the individual components of the assembly according to fig. 1, namely the individual cell covers with openings, the cell terminals, the peripheral edge and the adhesive layer;

FIG. 3 shows a defined gap between a battery terminal and a battery cover;

FIG. 4 shows a first process control for producing the component according to FIG. 1; and is

Fig. 5a, 5b are second process controls for manufacturing a component with a first heated die and a second heated die.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows an assembly 12 according to the invention, which comprises a cell cover 10 and a cell terminal 22.

The assembly 12 shown in perspective depiction in fig. 1 comprises a battery cover 10 which has a substantially strip-shaped appearance and is embodied flat. The upper side of the battery cover 10 is marked with reference numeral 14; the underside is marked with reference numeral 16. An opening is embodied in the material of the battery cover 10, through which opening the battery terminal 22 extends. The battery terminal 22 includes a lower region, which is hidden in fig. 1, that accommodates an adhesive stock with which the lower region of the battery terminal 22 is bonded to the underside 16 of the battery cover 10. A part of the adhesive elevation 21 can also be seen in fig. 1 by the adhesive 20. The lower region of the battery terminal 22 is surrounded by a peripheral edge 26. The upper side of the battery terminal 22 is marked with the reference numeral 22.1 and the battery terminal wall is marked with the reference numeral 22.2. The assembly 12 shown in fig. 1 is a ready-made assembly that is mounted on a battery cell.

Fig. 2 illustrates various components of the assembly 12 shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 2 shows that the battery cover 10 has an opening 18 in the lateral direction. The opening 18 shown in fig. 2 can also be embodied centrally in the battery cover 10 or on the opposite side of the battery cover 10. The underside 16 of the cell cover 10 is bonded to the lower region 24 of the cell terminal 22 by adhesive 20. The battery terminal 22 is surrounded by a peripheral edge 26 in its lower region 24. As can be seen from the exploded view of the assembly 12 according to fig. 2, the underside 16 of the battery cover 10 and the upper side of the lower region 24 of the battery terminal 22 are connected to one another by means of the adhesive 20. Complementary to the embodiment of the opening 18, an adhesive bead 21 is formed on the adhesive 20, which bead rests against a cell terminal wall 22.2 of the cell terminal 22. The peripheral edge 26 completely surrounds the lower region 24 of the cell terminal 22 and forms a groove with the bottom of the lower region 24 for receiving the adhesive 20, as will be explained below.

Fig. 3 shows an enlarged view of the cell terminal 22, whose lower region 24 is surrounded by a peripheral edge 26.

As can be seen from the illustration in fig. 3, the lower region 24 of the battery terminal 22 is surrounded by a full peripheral edge 26. The peripheral edge 26 protrudes laterally beyond the upper side 25 of the plate-shaped lower region 24 of the battery terminal 22. A groove is thus formed between the inner side of the skirt 26 and the upper side 25 of the lower region 24, which groove serves to receive the adhesive 20 on an adhesive feed 38, which is not shown in detail in fig. 3. A defined gap 28 is predefined by the excess of the substantially flat upper side 25 of the peripheral edge 26 and of the lower region 24 of the cell terminal 22, which gap is filled with the volume of adhesive 20. When the adhesive 20 is applied to the upper side 25 of the lower region 24 of the cell terminal 22, a volume of the adhesive 20, which is substantially in the form of a layer, is formed on the upper side 25. On the cell terminal wall 22.2, an adhesive bead 21 is formed, which is shown in an enlarged view in fig. 3, while the upper side 22.1 of the cell terminal 22 remains free of adhesive 20.

A first embodiment variant of the production process of the component 12 according to fig. 1 can be derived from the illustration according to fig. 4.

As can be seen from the illustration in fig. 4, the individual battery terminals 22 are placed on the top side 50 of the conveyor 30, which can be configured, for example, as a conveyor belt that moves over the rollers 34. The lower region 24 of the cell terminals is surrounded by a peripheral edge 26 which extends all around the lower region 24. The upper side 25 of the lower region 24 of the battery terminal 22 thus forms a surface 40 of the groove-like arrangement to be filled, into which the adhesive 20 is filled by means of the adhesive feed 38. The volume of adhesive 20 applied to the surface 40 to be filled and the adjusted gap 28 between the underside 16 of the cell cover 10 (on the one hand) and the upper side 25 of the lower region 24 of the cell terminal 22 (on the other hand) are obtained as a function of the height of the peripheral edge, as explained in connection with fig. 3. The conveyor 30 moves in a conveying direction 32. The movement of the belt-like conveyor 30 preferably takes place in a time-consuming manner.

As soon as the battery terminals 22 pass the adhesive feed 38 and thus the surface 40 to be filled is provided with an inventory of adhesive 20, the battery terminals 22 are fed in the conveying direction 32 on the upper side 50 of the conveying device 30.

As a next step, the battery cover 10 is mounted in the vertical direction on the input workstation 42 to the lower region 24 of the battery terminal 22 where the adhesive 20 stock is provided. An assembly 12 of a cell cover 10 and a cell terminal 22 is thus produced, which are joined to one another by adhesive 20 in a material-retaining manner.

As the assembly 12 is further transported, it passes through the curing device 36. In the variant of the production process of the assembly 12 shown in fig. 4, the curing device 36 has a tunnel-shaped appearance. In the curing device 36, the adhesive 20, that is to say the material-fused connection between the cell cover 10 and the cell terminal 22, is cured by the introduction of energy by means of an electromagnetic alternating field in the kilohertz range. Since the cell cover 10 and the cell terminals 22 are made of electrically conductive metallic materials, these materials heat up very quickly by induction and the adhesive connection made of the adhesive 20 also heats up. The adhesive hardens within a few minutes or even a few seconds, so that a cohesive material-bonded connection is obtained between the underside 16 of the cell cover 10 (on the one hand) and the upper side of the cell terminal 22 (on the other hand) by means of an adhesive 20. The transport device 30 is preferably designed as a transport belt which can be loaded successively with the individual battery terminals 22. The conveyor 30 embodied as a conveyor belt preferably runs regularly. This means that the adhesive input 38 is carried out, for example, at a first workstation and the battery cover 10 is mounted from said input workstation 42 onto the battery terminal 22 coated with the adhesive 20. The assembly 12 is already in the curing device 36 at the same time. The timing of the conveying device 30 is now set in such a way that the respective dwell times of the battery terminals 22 on the adhesive input device 38, on the input station 42 for the battery cover 10 and in the curing device 36 are coordinated with one another, and the

respective stations

38, 42, 36 run in a timed manner (before the cured component 12 is removed and transported out on the end of the conveying device 30). The timing is preferably adjusted such that the dwell time of the individual battery terminals 22 on the adhesive feed 38, on the feed station 42 and in the curing device 36 is uniform and a timed, but continuously running production process can be achieved. In the embodiment variant according to fig. 4, the external device held on the transport device 30 can be held very simply; only a timed adhesive feed 38 is provided for holding a feed station 42 for separating the battery covers 10 to be coated and a curing device 36, which is in this case of tunnel-shaped design and through which the components 12 to be cured pass. In the process control variant according to fig. 4, the curing device 36 is integrated into the conveying path of the conveying device 30, which is preferably designed as a conveyor belt.

Fig. 5a and 5b show a further embodiment variant of a production process for the component 12.

In this embodiment variant, the conveying device 30 is also configured as a conveyor belt, which moves in the conveying direction 32. The timed feed of the conveying device 30 in the conveying direction 32 is preferably also completed here. The conveying device 30, which is preferably designed as a conveyor belt, is guided over rollers 34. On the upper side 50 of the conveying device 30, the battery terminal 22 is placed, the lower region 24 of which is surrounded by a surrounding edge 26 similar to the process control variant according to fig. 4. Thereby defining a face 40 to be filled with adhesive 20. On the adhesive supply 38, the adhesive 20 is applied to the surface 40 to be filled (see the illustration according to fig. 3). The battery cover 10 is then mounted while resting on the input station 42, the battery cover being mounted substantially vertically to the pre-processed battery terminals 22. The assembly 12, which is composed of the cell cover 10 and the cell terminal 22 bonded to each other, undergoes further feeding in the conveying direction 32. The already assembled components are now loaded by a first heated die 54 having a defined temperature and a second heated die 56 arranged on the underside 52 of the conveying device 30. The two heated dies 54, 56 each have a well-defined temperature and approach the transport device 30 from the top with a first approach movement 58 and from the bottom with a second approach movement 60. In this case, the second heated die 56 covers the underside 52 of the conveying device 30, so that the heat input takes place from the underside 52, while the first heated die 54, after the first approach movement 58, loads the component 12 from above in the region of the first approach movement 58. After the end of the activation time, which may be in the range between 0.5 minutes and 10 minutes, the two heated dies 54, 56 return to their initial position in the course of the release movement 64 (see the illustration according to fig. 5 b). As soon as the two heated dies 54, 56 approach the component 12, energy input into the adhesive 20 takes place, so that this adhesive hardens, see the illustration according to fig. 5b, for example by means of a hardening 62 caused by conduction.

After the end of the working time, the first heated stamp 54 and the second heated stamp 56 are returned from the upper side 50 or the lower side 52 of the conveying device 30, so that the already assembled component 44 is released again and can subsequently be removed from this conveying device at the outlet of the conveying device 30 and further processed.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein and the aspects emphasized therein. Rather, a number of modifications are possible within the scope of the claims which are obvious to the skilled person.

Claims

1. Method for producing an assembly (12) comprising a battery cover (10) and a battery terminal (22), having at least the following method steps:

a) placing the battery terminals (22) on a conveyor (30),

b) applying an adhesive (20) to a lower region (24) of the battery terminal (22),

c) placing the battery cover (10) on the side of the battery terminal (22) where the adhesive (20) is located,

d) the adhesive (20) is hardened in such a way that

e) The hardening step d) is carried out by guiding the assembly (12) of the cell cover (10) and the cell terminal (22) bonded thereto through a hardening device (36), or

f) The hardening step d) is carried out by means of heated dies (54, 56) that can approach and move away from the assembly (12) transported on said conveyor (30).

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the components (12) accommodated on the conveyor device (30) are transported in a conveying direction (32) through a tunnel-shaped stiffening device (36).

3. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the adhesive (20) is applied according to method step b) to a lower region (24) of the battery terminal (22), which is surrounded by a peripheral edge (26).

4. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that, according to method step f), the heated dies (54, 56) are actuated simultaneously by an approach movement (58, 60) on the upper side (50) and the lower side (52) of the conveying device (30).

5. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that the heated dies (54, 56) perform a release movement (64) simultaneously and away from the upper side (50) and the lower side (52) of the transport device (30).

6. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that said hardening means (36) have a temperature between 50 ℃ and 300 ℃.

7. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the first heated die (54) and the second heated die (56) have a temperature defined between 50 ℃ and 300 ℃ depending on the adhesive, respectively.

8. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the component (12) is hardened in a time interval between 0.5 and 60 minutes.

9. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that, when the cell cover (10) is joined according to method step c), an adjusted gap (28) filled by the volume of the adhesive (20) remains on the lower region (24) of the cell cover (10) provided with the adhesive (20).

10. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the conveying device (30) is operated periodically in the conveying direction (32).

11. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the components (12) are transported one after the other in sequence, viewed in the transport direction (32) of the transport device (30), and in that the adhesive supply (38), the battery cover (10) supply and the hardening of the components (12) take place simultaneously during the feed pause.

12. Use of an assembly (12) manufactured according to one or more of claims 1 to 11, in a battery unit for an Electric Vehicle (EV), a Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV vehicle).