CN111564668B

CN111564668B - Battery cell production equipment and battery cell manufacturing method

Info

Publication number: CN111564668B
Application number: CN202010685748.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张小畏; 林江; 吴丙钊; 吴永江
Original assignee: Jiangsu Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd
Current assignee: Jiangsu Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd
Priority date: 2020-07-16
Filing date: 2020-07-16
Publication date: 2020-12-04
Anticipated expiration: 2040-07-16
Also published as: CN111564668A

Abstract

The application relates to a cell production device and a cell manufacturing method. The battery cell production equipment comprises a winding needle, a blanking assembly and a battery cell supporting piece. The winding needle is used for manufacturing a winding battery core. Two unloading subassemblies interval sets up. The two blanking assemblies are configured to remove the wound cells from the winding pins and move horizontally away from each other to stretch the wound cells. The cell support is configured to be inserted into or withdrawn from the central hole of the wound cell in the axial direction of the winding needle. When cell support piece inserts the centre bore, along vertical direction, cell support piece's orthographic projection is located between two unloading subassembly's orthographic projection to cell support piece is used for the first half of bearing coiling electricity core. The application provides a cell production device and a cell manufacturing method, which can reduce the possibility of wrinkles of a winding cell or falling of an active material.

Description

Battery cell production equipment and battery cell manufacturing method

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of battery processing equipment, in particular to battery cell production equipment and a battery cell manufacturing method.

Background

In the production process of the power lithium battery, winding equipment is needed to wind the pole piece into a battery cell. And a winding initial step, wherein a winding needle is used for winding a certain number of layers of inner diaphragms and outer diaphragms in advance, then the pole piece is conveyed to the winding needle, and finally the pole piece and the diaphragms are wound together by the winding needle to form a winding battery core. The winding electric core is in a multilayer structure formed by a diaphragm and a pole piece. The pole piece is coated with an active material substance. The winding electric core after winding and pre-pressing shaping is in a flat structure and is provided with wide faces and narrow faces which are alternately arranged. However, in the wound battery core after winding and pre-pressing for shaping, wrinkles or active material falls off at the part corresponding to the narrow surface, which affects the quality of the wound battery core.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a cell production device and a cell manufacturing method, which can reduce the possibility of wrinkles of a winding cell or falling of an active material.

In one aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a cell production facility, which includes a winding needle, a blanking assembly and a cell support member. The winding needle is used for manufacturing a winding battery core. Two unloading subassemblies interval sets up. The two blanking assemblies are configured to remove the wound cells from the winding pins and move horizontally away from each other to stretch the wound cells. The cell support is configured to be inserted into or withdrawn from the central hole of the wound cell in the axial direction of the winding needle. When cell support piece inserts the centre bore, along vertical direction, cell support piece's orthographic projection is located between two unloading subassembly's orthographic projection to cell support piece is used for the first half of bearing coiling electricity core.

According to an aspect of the application, battery cell production facility still includes the fixing base, and cell support piece rotatable coupling is in the fixing base.

According to one aspect of the application, the cell support member has an insertion body and an insertion end portion, the cross-sectional area of which gradually decreases in a direction away from the insertion body.

According to one aspect of the present application, the cell support member is a columnar structure or a sheet-like structure.

According to one aspect of the application, when the cell support piece is inserted into the central hole in the vertical direction, the orthographic projection of the cell support piece is located in the middle area between the orthographic projections of the two blanking assemblies.

According to one aspect of the application, the surface of the winding needle is provided with a first yielding groove and a second yielding groove which extend along the axial direction of the winding needle, the first yielding groove and the second yielding groove are alternately arranged along the circumferential direction of the winding needle, the blanking assembly is configured to be at least partially inserted into the first yielding groove, and the cell support is configured to be inserted into the second yielding groove.

According to one aspect of the application, the cell production equipment further comprises a first translation assembly, the cell support piece is used for being connected with the first translation assembly, and the first translation assembly is configured to drive the cell support piece to horizontally move along the axial direction of the winding needle.

According to one aspect of the application, the cell production equipment further comprises a second translation assembly, the cell support piece is connected to the second translation assembly, and the second translation assembly is configured to drive the cell support piece to horizontally move along a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the winding needle; and/or, the cell production equipment further comprises a lifting assembly, the cell support piece is connected to the lifting assembly, and the lifting assembly is configured to drive the cell support piece to move up and down along the vertical direction.

According to an aspect of the application, the cell production equipment further comprises an upper flattening member and a lower flattening member, and the upper flattening member and the lower flattening member are configured to flatten the wound cell in the vertical direction.

The battery cell production equipment comprises a winding needle, a blanking assembly and a battery cell supporting piece. The winding needle is used for manufacturing a winding battery core. The blanking assembly can remove the wound battery cell from the winding needle and stretch the wound battery cell. The cell support piece can provide bearing force for the upper half part of the winding cell to bear the upper half part of the winding cell, and is favorable for reducing the possibility that the middle part of the upper half part is drooped and is lower than the edge parts at two sides, so that the winding cell is in the flattening treatment process, the pressure stress born by the middle part of the upper half part and the edge parts of the winding cell is balanced, the slippage caused by unbalanced stress of the middle part and the edge parts of the upper half part of the winding cell is reduced, the possibility that wrinkles or active materials fall off due to dislocation of a pole piece and a diaphragm is caused, and the quality of the formed winding cell is improved.

On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for manufacturing a battery cell, including:

manufacturing a winding battery cell by using a winding needle;

two blanking assemblies arranged at intervals are respectively abutted against the winding battery cell on the winding needle;

the battery cell supporting piece is inserted into the central hole of the winding battery cell and supports the upper half part of the winding battery cell, and the orthographic projection of the battery cell supporting piece is positioned between the orthographic projections of the two blanking assemblies along the vertical direction;

the winding battery core is pulled away from the winding needle;

the two blanking assemblies horizontally move away from each other to stretch and wind the battery cell;

the cell support piece moves along the vertical direction along with the deformation of the winding cell.

According to another aspect of the present application, in the step of inserting the cell support member into the center hole of the wound cell and supporting the upper half of the wound cell: the cell support member is supported at a middle portion of the upper half portion.

Drawings

Features, advantages and technical effects of exemplary embodiments of the present application will be described below by referring to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a winding needle and a wound battery cell formed on the winding needle according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a partial structural schematic diagram of a cell production apparatus forming a winding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a matching state of a blanking assembly, a cell support member, a winding pin, and a wound cell formed on the winding pin according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view at A in FIG. 2;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a mating state of a blanking assembly, a cell support member, and a flattened wound cell according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a schematic partial structural diagram of a cell production apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 is a schematic partial structure diagram of a cell production apparatus according to another embodiment of the present application.

In the drawings, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Description of the labeling:

10. winding the battery cell; 10a, a central hole; 101. an upper half part; 101a, a middle portion; 101b, edge portions; 102. a lower half; 11. pole pieces; 12. a diaphragm; 12a, a starting end; 13. a tab;

20. battery cell production equipment;

30. coiling a needle; 301. a first abdicating groove; 302. a second abdicating groove; 31. a first half shaft; 32. a second half shaft;

40. a blanking assembly; 41. clamping the needle at the inner side; 42. clamping the needle at the outer side;

50. a cell support; 51. an insertion body; 52. an insertion end portion;

60. a first translation assembly;

70. a second translation assembly;

80. a lifting assembly;

90. a fixed seat; 91. a first support arm; 92. a second support arm; 93. a third support arm;

100. an upper flattening member;

200. a lower flattening member;

300. a lifting guide rail;

400. a horizontal guide rail;

x, axial direction; y, vertical direction.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present application will be described in further detail below with reference to the drawings and examples. The following detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanying drawings are provided to illustrate the principles of the application and are not intended to limit the scope of the application, i.e., the application is not limited to the described embodiments.

In the description of the present application, it is to be noted that, unless otherwise specified, "a plurality" means two or more; the terms "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "inner," "outer," and the like, indicate an orientation or positional relationship that is merely for convenience in describing the application and to simplify the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referenced devices or elements must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus should not be construed as limiting the application. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," "third," and the like are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance. "vertical" is not strictly vertical, but is within the tolerance of the error. "parallel" is not strictly parallel but within the tolerance of the error.

The following description is given with the directional terms as they are used in the drawings and not intended to limit the specific structure of the present application. In the description of the present application, it is also to be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning either a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral connection; may be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood as appropriate by one of ordinary skill in the art.

The applicant studies and analyzes the structure and the processing process of the winding battery cell after noticing the problem that the existing winding battery cell has wrinkles or active material falls off after the pre-pressing and shaping process. The applicant has found that wound cells are prone to wrinkling or shedding of active material during the pre-compression setting process. After further research and analysis, the applicant finds that after the winding battery cell is wound, a pre-pressing mechanism is needed to pre-press and shape the winding battery cell. Because the lower half part of the wound battery core is supported by the supporting mechanism, and the upper half part of the wound battery core can droop and deform under the action of self gravity, so that the middle part of the upper half part is concave and lower than the two edge parts positioned at two sides of the middle part, in the flattening process, the prepressing mechanism can firstly press the two opposite edge parts of the upper half part, and further the middle part and the edge parts of the upper half part of the wound battery core are unbalanced in stress and slide, so that the situation that wrinkles or active material falls off due to dislocation of a pole piece and a diaphragm is caused, and the quality of the wound battery core is influenced.

Based on the above problems discovered by the applicant, the applicant improves the structure of the cell production equipment, and the following further describes the embodiments of the present application.

For a better understanding of the present application, embodiments of the present application are described below with reference to fig. 1 to 7.

Referring to fig. 1, a wound electrical core 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be formed by winding two pole pieces 11 and a separator 12 together, wherein the separator 12 is an insulator between the two pole pieces 11. In the present embodiment, one of the pole pieces 11 is exemplarily described as a positive pole piece, and the other pole piece 11 is exemplarily described as a negative pole piece. The positive electrode sheet active material is coated on the coating region of the positive electrode sheet, and the negative electrode sheet active material is coated on the coating region of the negative electrode sheet. A plurality of uncoated regions extending from the coated regions of the pole piece 11 are laminated as the tab 13 (see fig. 4) so that the tab 13 includes a plurality of layer structures. The wound cell 10 includes two tabs 13, i.e., a positive tab and a negative tab. The positive tab extends from the coated region of the positive tab and the negative tab extends from the coated region of the negative tab.

Referring to fig. 2 and 3, a cell production apparatus 20 according to an embodiment of the present application includes a winding pin 30, a blanking assembly 40, and a cell support member 50. The winding needle 30 is configured to wind the inner separator 12, the outer separator 12, and the two pole pieces 11 together to form the wound battery cell 10 when performing a rotation motion around its own axis. The cross-sectional shape of the winding needle 30 itself may be generally oval, circular, or diamond-shaped. Alternatively, the material of the winding needle 30 may be aluminum alloy or alloy steel. The number of the blanking assemblies 40 is two. The two blanking assemblies 40 are arranged at intervals along the horizontal direction. The horizontal direction is perpendicular to the vertical direction Y. The two blanking assemblies 40 are configured to remove the wound battery cell 10 from the winding needle 30. The wound core 10 formed from the winding needle 30 has a center hole 10 a. The center hole 10a is a hollow space surrounded by the winding core 10. The two blanking assemblies 40 can be moved horizontally away from each other to stretch the wound cell 10, thereby gradually flattening the wound cell 10 and the cross-section of the central aperture 10a of the wound cell 10.

In one example, referring to fig. 3, the blanking assembly 40 includes an inner clamp pin 41 and an outer clamp pin 42. When the winding cell 10 needs to be removed by using the blanking assembly 40, the inner clamping pin 41 and the outer clamping pin 42 may be clamped on the inner wall and the outer wall of the winding cell 10, respectively. The blanking assembly 40 can clamp the winding cell 10 through the inner side clamping needle 41 and the outer side clamping needle 42, so as to further improve the connection stability of the blanking assembly 40 and the winding cell 10, and reduce the possibility that the blanking assembly 40 and the winding cell 10 are rubbed due to the relative position change of the blanking assembly 40 and the winding cell 10 when the blanking assembly 40 moves and stretches the winding cell 10 along the horizontal direction perpendicular to the axial direction X of the winding needle 30, and also reduce the possibility that the tab 13 of the winding cell 10 deviates from the preset position after the winding cell 10 moves relative to the blanking assembly 40, so that the winding cell 10 cannot be normally used. Alternatively, the inside clamp needle 41 and the outside clamp needle 42 are both cylindrical rod members. The diameter of the inside clip 41 is smaller than the diameter of the outside clip 42.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, the cell support member 50 is configured to be inserted into or withdrawn from the central hole 10a of the wound cell 10 in the axial direction X of the winding needle 30. Before the winding pin 30 is withdrawn from the wound cell 10, the cell support member 50 is inserted into the center hole 10a of the wound cell 10. When the cell support member 50 is inserted into the central hole 10a of the wound cell 10, the orthogonal projection of the cell support member 50 is located between the orthogonal projections of the two blanking assemblies 40 along the vertical direction Y. The cell support member 50 is used to support the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10. The upper half 101 of the wound battery cell 10 refers to the upper half 101 of the part located above the blanking assembly 40 when the blanking assembly 40 is used as a reference. The lower half 102 of the wound battery core 10 refers to that when the blanking assembly 40 is used as a reference, the part below the blanking assembly 40 is the lower half 102. The blanking assembly 40 supports the wound battery cell 10 and withdraws the wound battery cell 10 from the winding needle 30. Since the cell support member 50 can provide a supporting force for the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10, the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10 is not easily deformed by sagging after the winding pin 30 is withdrawn.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 1 and 3, septum 12 has a beginning end 12 a. At the beginning of the winding operation, winding needle 30 winds septum 12a few times first, and starting end 12a of septum 12 is positioned at the innermost layer. The pole piece 11 is then fed into winding needle 30, where the pole piece 11 and the separator 12 are wound together. After the winding process is completed, the winding pin 30 is separated from the winding core 10. Since the starting end portion 12a of the separator 12 is located at the innermost layer, the cell support member 50 can support the upper half portion 101 of the wound battery cell 10 at a position close to the starting end portion 12a of the separator 12, so that the starting end portion 12a of the separator 12 is not prone to sagging and deforming under the supporting action of the cell support member 50, and the possibility of the starting end portion 12a of the separator 12 being wrinkled is reduced.

Referring to fig. 4 and 5, when the blanking assembly 40 translationally stretches the wound cell 10 in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the axial direction X, the cell support member 50 moves downward in the vertical direction Y in synchronization with the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10 until the wound cell 10 is flattened to a predetermined extent, and then the cell support member 50 is withdrawn from the central hole 10a of the wound cell 10. In this way, before the cell support member 50 exits the wound battery cell 10, the cell support member 50 always provides a supporting force for the upper half portion 101 of the wound battery cell 10, so as to reduce the possibility that the middle portion 101a of the upper half portion 101 of the wound battery cell 10 is recessed and lower than the two side edge portions 101b, further reduce the possibility that the middle portion 101a and the edge portions 101b slip due to unbalanced stress when the upper half portion 101 of the wound battery cell 10 is subjected to a compressive stress, so that the pole piece 11 and the diaphragm 12 are misaligned to cause wrinkles or fall off of an active material, and improve the quality of the wound battery cell 10.

The cell production equipment 20 of the embodiment of the present application includes a winding needle 30, a blanking assembly 40, and a cell support member 50. The winding needle 30 is used for manufacturing the winding core 10. The blanking assembly 40 can remove the wound battery cell 10 from the winding needle 30 and stretch the wound battery cell 10. The cell support member 50 may provide a supporting force for the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10 to support the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10, which is beneficial to reduce the possibility that the middle portion 101a of the upper half 101 sags below the two side edge portions 101b, so that the compressive stresses borne by the middle portion 101a and the edge portions 101b of the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10 are relatively balanced during the flattening process of the wound cell 10, thereby reducing the possibility that the middle portion 101a and the edge portions 101b of the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10 slip due to unbalanced stress, which causes misalignment between the pole piece 11 and the diaphragm 12 to generate wrinkles or fall off of the active material, and improving the quality of the wound cell 10 after being shaped.

In one embodiment, when the cell support member 50 is inserted into the central hole 10a, the orthographic projection of the cell support member 50 is located in the middle area between the orthographic projections of the two blanking assemblies 40. Here, the middle area refers to an area 1/4 to 3/4 between the orthographic projections of the two blanking assemblies 40, that is, when the area between the orthographic projections of the two blanking assemblies 40 is divided into four equal parts, the middle area refers to an area between two adjacent equal parts. In one example, the distance between the orthographic projection of the cell support 50 and the orthographic projection of one blanking assembly 40 is equal to or less than the distance between the orthographic projection of the cell support 50 and the orthographic projection of another blanking assembly 40. In this way, the cell support member 50 may support the upper half 101 of the wound battery cell 10 through the middle portion 101a of the upper half 101 of the wound battery cell 10, so that the portions at both sides of the cell support member 50 in the horizontal direction are substantially equal, and further, the portions at both sides of the cell support member 50 are more uniformly stressed.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 2, the cell production apparatus 20 further includes a first translation assembly 60. Cell support 50 is adapted to be coupled to a first translating assembly 60. The first translation assembly 60 is configured to horizontally move the cell support 50 along the axial direction X. The first translation assembly 60 can ensure the positional accuracy and stability of the insertion or withdrawal of the cell support member 50 into or out of the central hole 10a of the wound cell 10. Thus, on the one hand, the possibility of collision of the cell support member 50 with the winding pin 30 during insertion or withdrawal of the center hole 10a of the wound cell 10 is reduced; on the other hand, the possibility of structural damage to the separator 12 of the wound cell 10 due to contact friction with the wound cell 10 caused by the cell support member 50 swinging or vibrating during insertion or withdrawal from the center hole 10a of the wound cell 10 is reduced. In one example, the first translating assembly 60 includes a first horizontal rail, a first slide movably coupled to the first horizontal rail, and a first drive component. Cell support member 50 is connected to the first slider. The first drive member may be an electric cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 2, the cell production apparatus 20 further includes a second translation assembly 70. Cell support 50 is coupled to a second translation assembly 70. The second translation assembly 70 is configured to move the cell support 50 horizontally in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction X. When it is required that the cell support member 50 is inserted into the central hole 10a of the wound cell 10, and the position of the cell support member 50 is not at the predetermined position, the position of the cell support member 50 can be adjusted in the horizontal direction by the second translation assembly 70, so as to ensure the positional accuracy of the cell support member 50 inserted into the central hole 10a of the wound cell 10. In this way, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the cell support member 50 becomes poor in support effect because the position at which the cell support member 50 is inserted into the center hole 10a of the wound battery cell 10 is deviated from the predetermined position. In one example, the second translation assembly 70 includes a second horizontal rail, a second slide movably coupled to the second horizontal rail, and a second drive component. Cell support member 50 is connected to the second slider. The second drive member may be an electric cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder. In an embodiment in which the cell production apparatus 20 includes the first translating assembly 60, the second translating assembly 70 may be connected to the first translating assembly 60 of the above-described embodiment.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 2, the cell production apparatus 20 further includes a lifting assembly 80. Cell support member 50 is coupled to a lift assembly 80. The lifting assembly 80 is configured to drive the cell support 50 to move up and down along the vertical direction Y. After the cell support member 50 is inserted into the central hole 10a of the winding cell 10, the blanking assembly 40 stretches the winding cell 10 along the horizontal direction, and the lifting assembly 80 drives the cell support member 50 to descend along the vertical direction Y synchronously, so that the winding cell 10 can always bear the upper half 101 of the winding cell 10 in the deformation process. The lifting assembly 80 can ensure the positional accuracy and stability of the movement of the cell support member 50 along the vertical direction Y, so as to reduce the possibility that the cell support member 50 swings or vibrates in the vertical direction Y to contact and rub with the wound cell 10, which may cause structural damage to the separator 12 of the wound cell 10. In one example, the lift assembly 80 includes a vertical rail, a third slide movably coupled to the vertical rail, and a third drive member. Cell support member 50 is connected to the third slider. The third driving member may be an electric cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder. In an embodiment in which the cell production apparatus 20 includes the first translating assembly 60, the first translating assembly 60 of the above-described embodiment may be connected to the lifting assembly 80.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 2, the cell production apparatus 20 further includes a fixing base 90. Cell support member 50 is rotatably connected to fixing base 90. In one example, the cell support member 50 is rotatably connected to the fixing base 90 through a bearing, which is beneficial to reducing the rotational friction resistance. When the cell support member 50 is in a contact state with the inner wall of the wound battery cell 10 and the cell support member 50 move relative to each other, the cell support member 50 may rotate to form rolling friction between the cell support member 50 and the wound battery cell 10, so as to effectively reduce the friction between the cell support member 50 and the wound battery cell 10, and further reduce the possibility of structural damage to the wound battery cell 10 due to a large friction generated between the cell support member 50 and the wound battery cell 10. In one example, referring to fig. 2, the fixing base 90 includes a first arm 91 extending in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the axial direction X, a second arm 92 extending in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the axial direction X, and a third arm 93 connecting the first arm 91 and the second arm 92. The first arm 91 and the second arm 92 are disposed on opposite sides of the third arm 93. In an embodiment in which the cell production apparatus 20 includes the second translation assembly 70, the fixing base 90 may be connected to the second translation assembly 70. Specifically, the fixed base 90 may be coupled to the second translating assembly 70 via a second arm 92.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 3 and 4, the surface of the winding needle 30 has a first and a

second relief groove

301 and 302 extending along the self-axial direction X. The first and

second relief grooves

301 and 302 are alternately arranged in the circumferential direction of the winding pin 30. The blanking assembly 40 is configured to be at least partially inserted into the first avoiding groove 301, and the cell support 50 is configured to be inserted into the second avoiding groove 302, so that the wound cell 10 does not need to be withdrawn from the winding needle 30 after the wound cell 10 is formed on the winding needle 30, but can be directly matched with the first avoiding groove 301 and the second avoiding groove 302 through the blanking assembly 40 and the cell support 50, respectively. The blanking assembly 40 and the cell support member 50 are each accurately in a predetermined position and in contact with the wound battery cell 10. The needle 30 is then withdrawn. In one example, after the winding core 10 is formed on the winding pin 30, the middle portion 101a of the upper half 101 of the winding core 10 may correspond to the second relief groove 302. The second relief groove 302 may provide a guide for the cell support member 50 to ensure that the cell support member 50 is accurately positioned, so that the cell support member 50 can be aligned with the middle portion 101a of the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10 after being inserted into the central hole 10a of the wound cell 10. In one example, two first and

second relief grooves

301 and 302 are distributed along the circumferential direction of the winding pin 30. Preferably, the two first and

second relief grooves

301 and 302 are uniformly distributed in the circumferential direction of the winding needle 30. When the winding needle 30 stops winding, one of the two second relief grooves 302 may be located above the other in the vertical direction Y. In one example, referring to FIG. 3, a winding pin 30 includes a first half-shaft 31 and a second half-shaft 32. The first half shaft 31 and the second half shaft 32 can move away from or close to each other in the radial direction of the winding pin 30. The first half shaft 31 and the second half shaft 32 are respectively provided with a first and a

second relief groove

301 and 302.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 6, a cell support 50 has an insertion body 51 and an insertion end 52. The cross-sectional area of the insertion end portion 52 gradually decreases along the direction away from the insertion body 51, so that when the cell support member 50 is inserted into the central hole 10a of the winding cell 10, the insertion end portion 52 can well avoid the winding cell 10 and can guide the cell support member 50 to be smoothly inserted into the central hole 10a of the winding cell 10, and the possibility that the insertion end portion 52 is easily pressed against the end surface of the winding cell 10 to cause structural damage to the winding cell 10 when the cell support member 50 is inserted into the central hole 10a of the winding cell 10 is reduced. The insertion body 51 extends in the axial direction X of the winding needle 30. In one example, the cell support 50 is a cylindrical structure. The insertion body 51 has a cylindrical configuration and the insertion end 52 has a conical configuration. Therefore, the outer peripheral surface of the insertion body 51 is arc-shaped, and the inner wall of the wound battery cell 10 is also arc-shaped, so that stress concentration between the outer peripheral surface of the insertion body 51 and the inner wall of the wound battery cell 10 is not easy to occur, and the wound battery cell 10 is not easily structurally damaged. In another example, the cell support 50 is a sheet-like structure. The cell support member 50 has wide faces and narrow faces alternately arranged in the circumferential direction thereof. After the cell support member 50 is inserted into the center hole 10a of the wound cell 10, the wide surface of the cell support member 50 contacts the inner wall of the wound cell 10, so that the contact area between the cell support member 50 and the wound cell 10 can be increased, and the support stability can be improved.

In another embodiment, referring to fig. 7 and 3, the cell production equipment 20 further includes an upper flattening member 100 and a lower flattening member 200. The upper and

lower flattening members

100 and 200 are configured to flatten the wound battery cells 10 in the vertical direction Y. After the winding needle 30 is completely wound to form the wound battery cell 10, the blanking assembly 40 and the cell support member 50 are respectively inserted into the first and

second relief grooves

301 and 302 on the winding needle 30. The lower crush 200 contacts the lower half 102 of the wound cell 10 to support the lower half 102 of the wound cell 10. The winding needle 30 is pulled out of the wound battery core 10. The cell support member 50 supports the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10. The blanking assembly 40 moves the stretch-wound battery cell 10 in the horizontal direction. The upper flattening member 100 gradually approaches the lower flattening member 200 in the vertical direction Y to flatten the wound battery cell 10 downward, while the cell support member 50 moves in the vertical direction Y adjacent to the lower flattening member 200. After the blanking assembly 40 and the upper flattening member 100 cooperate to flatten the wound battery cell 10 to a predetermined degree, the blanking assembly 40 and the cell support member 50 are withdrawn from the central hole 10a of the wound battery cell 10. The upper flattening piece 100 continues to flatten the winding battery cell 10 until the flattening degree of the winding battery cell 10 reaches a predetermined degree, and the flattening action is stopped. The upper flattening member 100 is moved away from the lower flattening member 200, and the wound core 10 after the flattening and the forming are taken away. In one example, the upper flattening member 100 and the lower flattening member 200 are each a plate-like structure. Both the upper squash member 100 and the lower squash member 200 have more than two through holes arranged side by side. In one example, referring to fig. 7 and 3, the cell production apparatus 20 further includes a lifting rail 300 and a horizontal rail 400. The lifting rail 300 is movably coupled to the horizontal rail 400. Both the upper flattening member 100 and the lower flattening member 200 are movably coupled to the lifting rail 300. The lifting rail 300 allows easy adjustment of the position of the upper flattening member 100 and the lower flattening member 200 in the vertical direction Y. The horizontal guide rails 400 allow the position of the upper crushing member 100 and the lower crushing member 200 to be easily adjusted in the horizontal direction. The upper flattening member 100 and the lower flattening member 200 can press the wound battery cell 10 to a more compact state, so as to reduce the possibility that the upper half 101 of the wound battery cell 10 collapses during the transportation process due to the flattening and non-compacting of the blanking assembly 40.

The cell production equipment 20 of the embodiment of the present application includes a winding needle 30, a blanking assembly 40, and a cell support member 50. The winding needle 30 is used for manufacturing the winding core 10. The blanking assembly 40 is used for removing the wound battery cell 10 from the winding needle 30, so as to separate the winding needle 30 from the wound battery cell 10. The cell support member 50 is used to provide an additional supporting force to the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10 removed from the winding pin 30. The cell support member 50 may be inserted into the center hole 10a of the wound cell 10 and support the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10. Because the upper half portion 101 of the wound battery cell 10 is supported by the cell support member 50, the middle portion 101a of the upper half portion 101 of the wound battery cell 10 is not prone to sag, so that when the wound battery cell 10 is flattened, the outer surface of the upper half portion 101 of the wound battery cell 10 can bear compressive stress, and further, stress at each position of the upper half portion 101 of the wound battery cell 10 tends to be balanced, which is beneficial to reducing the possibility that wrinkles or active material falling off occurs due to unbalanced stress of the upper half portion 101 of the wound battery cell 10 in the flattening process of the wound battery cell 10, and improving the quality and the qualification rate of the wound battery cell 10.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a method for manufacturing a battery cell, which includes:

the winding needle 30 is used for manufacturing the winding battery cell 10;

the two blanking assemblies 40 arranged at intervals are respectively abutted against the winding battery cell 10 on the winding needle 30;

the cell support piece 50 is inserted into the central hole 10a of the wound cell 10 and supports the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10, and the orthographic projection of the cell support piece 50 is located between the orthographic projections of the two blanking assemblies 40 along the vertical direction Y;

the winding battery core 10 is taken out of the winding needle 30;

the two blanking assemblies 40 are horizontally moved away from each other to stretch the wound electric core 10;

the cell support member 50 moves in the vertical direction Y in synchronization with the deformation of the wound cell 10.

In the cell manufacturing method according to the embodiment of the application, the blanking assembly 40 is used to support two opposite side portions of the wound cell 10 in the horizontal direction, and the cell support member 50 is used to support the upper half portion 101 of the wound cell 10, so that the blanking assembly 40 and the cell support member 50 respectively provide support for the wound cell 10 at different positions. During the process of stretching the wound cell 10 by the blanking assembly 40 to flatten the wound cell 10, the cell support member 50 moves in the vertical direction Y synchronously with the deformation of the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10 and always maintains a contact state with the inner wall of the wound cell 10. In this way, the blanking assembly 40 and the cell support member 50 cooperate to form a good support for the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10 during the process of flattening the wound cell 10, so as to ensure the stress balance of the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10, reduce the possibility of wrinkles or active material falling off after the deformation of the wound cell 10, and improve the quality of the formed wound cell 10.

In one embodiment, the step of moving the cell support 50 in the vertical direction Y while following the deformation of the wound cell 10 is followed by: the wound cell 10 is flattened to a predetermined level and is pulled away from the cell support member 50 and the blanking assembly 40. After the wound cell 10 is flattened to a predetermined degree, the distance between the upper half portion 101 and the lower half portion 102 of the wound cell 10 is reduced to a predetermined distance, so that the middle portion 101a of the upper half portion 101 of the wound cell 10 is not prone to sag under the action of its own gravity, and therefore, the wound cell 10 can be pulled away from the cell support member 50 and the blanking assembly 40, so as to perform subsequent processing actions on the wound cell 10. In one example, after the cell support member 50 and the blanking assembly 40 are pulled away, the flattening operation is continuously performed on the wound cell 10, so as to further improve the flatness of the wound cell 10.

In one embodiment, in the step of inserting the cell support member 50 into the center hole 10a of the wound cell 10 and supporting the upper half 101 of the wound cell 10: cell support 50 is supported at a middle portion 101a of upper half 101. The middle part 101a of the upper half 101 refers to an area where the upper half 101 of the wound battery cell 10 is located between the two blanking assemblies 40 and has an error of 20mm to 30mm from the axis of the winding needle 30. In this way, the portions of the upper half portion 101 of the wound battery cell 10 on both sides of the cell support member 50 are substantially equal, and the stress on the portions of the upper half portion 101 of the wound battery cell 10 on both sides of the cell support member 50 is further ensured to be more balanced.

While the present application has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, various modifications may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the present application, and in particular, features shown in the various embodiments may be combined in any manner as long as there is no structural conflict. The present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed herein but is to cover all embodiments that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a cell, comprising:

manufacturing a winding battery cell by using a winding needle;

drawing the winding cell away from the winding needle;

horizontally moving the two blanking assemblies away from each other to stretch the wound cells;

the cell supporting piece moves along the vertical direction synchronously along with the deformation of the winding cell;

when the blanking assembly horizontally translates and stretches the wound battery cell along a horizontal direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the central hole, the battery cell supporting piece can synchronously move downwards along the vertical direction along with the upper half part of the wound battery cell until the wound battery cell is flattened to a preset degree, and then the battery cell supporting piece is withdrawn from the central hole of the wound battery cell.

2. The cell manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein in the step of inserting the cell support member into the central hole of the wound cell and supporting the upper half of the wound cell: the cell support member is supported at a middle portion of the upper half portion.

3. A cell production apparatus, comprising:

the winding needle is used for manufacturing a winding battery cell;

a feeding assembly, two of which are spaced apart, configured to remove the wound cells from the winding needles and move horizontally away from each other to stretch the wound cells;

the cell support piece is configured to be inserted into or withdrawn from a central hole of the wound cell along the axial direction of the winding needle, when the cell support piece is inserted into the central hole, the orthographic projection of the cell support piece is positioned between the orthographic projections of the two blanking assemblies along the vertical direction, and the cell support piece is used for bearing the upper half part of the wound cell;

wherein, roll up the needle surface and have along roll up the first groove of stepping down and the second groove of stepping down of the axial extension of needle, follow the circumference of rolling up the needle, first groove of stepping down with the second groove of stepping down sets up in turn, unloading subassembly is configured to at least part and inserts first groove of stepping down, electric core support piece is configured to insert the second groove of stepping down.

4. The cell production apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a fixing base, the cell support member being rotatably connected to the fixing base.

5. The cell production apparatus of claim 3, wherein the cell support member has an insertion body and an insertion end, the insertion end having a cross-sectional area that gradually decreases in a direction away from the insertion body.

6. The cell production apparatus of claim 3, wherein the cell support member is of a cylindrical or sheet-like configuration.

7. The cell production apparatus of claim 3, wherein, in the vertical direction, when the cell support member is inserted into the central hole, an orthogonal projection of the cell support member is located in a middle area between orthogonal projections of the two blanking assemblies.

8. The cell production apparatus of any one of claims 3 to 7, further comprising a first translation assembly, wherein the cell support member is configured to be connected to the first translation assembly, and the first translation assembly is configured to drive the cell support member to move horizontally in the axial direction of the winding pin.

9. The cell production apparatus of claim 8, wherein:

the cell production equipment further comprises a second translation assembly, the cell support piece is connected to the second translation assembly, and the second translation assembly is configured to drive the cell support piece to horizontally move along a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the winding needle; and/or, the cell production equipment further comprises a lifting assembly, the cell support piece is connected to the lifting assembly, and the lifting assembly is configured to drive the cell support piece to move up and down along the vertical direction.

10. The cell production apparatus of any of claims 3 to 7, further comprising an upper flattening member and a lower flattening member, the upper flattening member and the lower flattening member being configured to flatten the wound cells in the vertical direction.