Detailed Description
The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the present disclosure, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Thus, the present application is not limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the claims.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. For example, as used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" may include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and/or "including," when used in this specification, are intended to specify the presence of stated integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The term "A on B" as used in this specification means that A is either directly adjacent (above or below) B or indirectly adjacent (i.e., separated by some material) to B; the term "A within B" means that A is either entirely within B or partially within B.
These and other features of the present application, as well as the operation and function of the related elements of structure and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, may be significantly improved upon consideration of the following description. All of which form a part of this application, with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the application. It should also be understood that the drawings are not drawn to scale.
In general, after a lithium battery, a storage battery, etc. is manufactured, an Electrolyte solution is injected into the battery, and the battery is formed by using a battery formation device, that is, the battery is charged and discharged with a small current to activate the battery, so as to form a Solid Electrolyte Interface (SEI) film on a positive electrode and a negative electrode. Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a battery formation apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The battery formation apparatus 100 shown in fig. 1 can simultaneously form a plurality of batteries 001. The plurality of batteries 001 may be the same type of battery 001 or different types of batteries 001. As shown in fig. 1, the battery formation apparatus 100 may include a base 110, a probe assembly (not shown in fig. 1), and a vent 160.
As shown in fig. 1, the base 110 is a base of the battery formation apparatus 100 for placing and fixing the battery 001 to be formed. The base 110 may house a plurality of batteries 001 at the same time.
The probe assembly is used for connecting the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery 001 so as to charge and discharge the battery 001.
In the process of charging and discharging the battery 001 using the battery formation apparatus 100, a chemical reaction may occur inside the battery 001 to generate gas, which is harmful to the environment and the human body, and may cause the sealed battery 001 to swell, thereby reducing the safety of the battery 001. Therefore, a negative pressure air extraction method is needed in the formation process to extract and collect the produced gas. The exhaust device 160 is used to exhaust harmful gases in the battery 001. Exhaust apparatus 160 may include at least one target cleaning component 180, negative pressure main 166, and negative pressure generating apparatus 168.
The negative pressure generating device 168 is used for generating negative pressure to provide power for the extraction of harmful gases.
The negative pressure main pipe 166 and the at least one object cleaning member 180 are used to connect the negative pressure generating means 168 and the battery 001. The battery 001 and the negative pressure generating device 168 are hermetically connected through the negative pressure main pipe 166 and at least one target cleaning component 180, so that a harmful gas extraction channel is formed. At least one target cleaning component 180 is in communication through the negative pressure main 166. Arrows shown in fig. 1 indicate the flow direction of the harmful gas.
Each of the at least one object cleaning component 180 may include a suction nozzle 182 and a buffer tank 184. Specifically, the suction nozzle 182 may be connected to a liquid injection port of the battery 001 to draw harmful gas therefrom. The surge tank 184 may be connected at one end to the suction nozzle 182 and at the other end to the main negative pressure pipe 166. When the harmful gas is extracted from the battery 001, a part of the electrolyte 002 is extracted together with the harmful gas. The extracted electrolyte 002 is stored in the buffer tank 184, and after the formation is completed, the electrolyte 002 may be returned to the battery 001 again.
Buffer tank 184 can be used for the storage by the electrolyte 002 of drawing out, this kind of material of electrolyte 002 easily crystallizes, consequently, crystallization emergence blocking phenomenon easily in buffer tank 184 and suction nozzle 182 to cause and become the inside residual gas of in-process battery 001, reduce battery 001 life-span, increase battery safety risk, can make the whole inefficacy of process of bleeding when serious, lead to battery 001 to take place to swell, produce the defective products even explosion. The cleaning apparatus 200 provided herein is used for cleaning the buffer tank 184 and the crystallized electrolyte 002 in the suction nozzle 182 in at least one target cleaning part 180 of the battery formation apparatus 100.
The cleaning device 200 may have different configurations depending on the mode of operation. Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a cleaning apparatus 200a according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a cleaning apparatus 200b according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The cleaning apparatus 200 may be the cleaning apparatus 200a shown in fig. 2, or may be the cleaning apparatus 200b shown in fig. 3.
As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the washing apparatus 200 may include a base 210, a storage device 220, a power device 240, and a transfer pipe 260. In some embodiments, the cleaning apparatus 200 may further include a control device 270. In some embodiments, the cleaning apparatus 200 may further include a recovery bin 280 and a recovery conduit 290.
The base 210 may be a mounting base for the cleaning apparatus 200. Both the storage device 220 and the power device 240 may be mounted on the base 210. In some embodiments, the control 270 may also be mounted on the base 210. In some embodiments, the recovery bin 280 may also be mounted on the base 210.
As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the storage device 220 may be used to store a cleaning agent. The cleaning agent may clean the crystallized electrolyte 002 to dissolve the electrolyte 002 for discharge from the battery formation apparatus 100.
The power plant 240 may be connected to the storage device 220 by a pipeline. Specifically, the power unit 240 may be connected to the storage unit 220 via a transmission line 260. The power unit 240 may provide power to the cleaning apparatus 200 so that the cleaning agent may flow between the various components of the cell formation apparatus 100 to adequately clean the crystallized electrolyte 002. In some embodiments, the power plant 240 may be a hydraulic pump. The hydraulic pump may power the flow of the cleaning agent such that the cleaning agent may flow between at least one target cleaning component 180 of the battery formation device 100. The hydraulic pump may be of various forms, such as a manual hydraulic pump or an electric hydraulic pump, such as a gear pump, a plunger pump, a vane pump or a screw pump, etc. This is not limited in this application.
The transmission pipeline 260 may connect the battery formation apparatus 100 and the power plant 240. The transfer pipe 260 may include an inlet 262 and at least one interface 264. The inlet 262 and the at least one port 264 may communicate through a main conduit 266. Inlet 262 and at least one port 264 may be fixedly coupled to main conduit 266 or may be removably coupled to main conduit 266. The inlet 262 may be connected to the power plant 240. When the cleaning apparatus 200 is in operation, the at least one interface 264 may be connected to the at least one target cleaning component 180 of the battery formation apparatus 100. Each interface 264 may be coupled to one target cleaning component 180. Specifically, the suction nozzle 182 in each target cleaning component 180 may be connected with one of the at least one interface 264. The transmission pipeline 260 may be a flexible pipe to accommodate different types and sizes of the battery formation equipment 100.
When the cleaning apparatus 200 is in operation, the power unit 240 may drive the cleaning agent to flow between the storage device 220 and the at least one target cleaning component 180 for cleaning purposes.
The cleaning agent may flow in one direction while flowing between the at least one target cleaning member 180 and the storage device 220, or may flow back and forth in a different direction between the at least one target cleaning member 180 and the storage device 220. For example, the cleaning agent may flow from the reservoir 220 to the at least one target cleaning component 180, or from the at least one target cleaning component 180 to the reservoir 220. For another example, the cleaning agent may flow from the reservoir 220 to the at least one target cleaning component 180 and may flow from the at least one target cleaning component 180 to the reservoir 220.
When it is desired that the detergent flows back and forth in different directions between the at least one target washing part 180 and the storage device 220, the hydraulic pump may be a bidirectional hydraulic pump 240a, as in the embodiment shown in fig. 2. The cleaning apparatus 200a may control the flowing direction of the cleaning agent by changing the direction of the bidirectional hydraulic pump 240a, so that the cleaning agent may repeatedly flow back and forth between the at least one target cleaning part 180 and the storage device 220 in different directions to improve cleaning efficiency, and at the same time, the cleaning agent may be reused to avoid waste.
Of course, in the embodiment shown in fig. 2, the hydraulic pump may also be a one-way hydraulic pump. The power plant 240 may include the one-way hydraulic pump and a directional valve. The one-way hydraulic pump is connected with the directional valve. The cleaning apparatus 200a may control the purpose of the flowing direction of the cleaning agent by controlling the connection direction of the directional valve.
When it is desired that the detergent flows in one direction between the at least one target washing part 180 and the storage device 220, the hydraulic pump may be a one-way hydraulic pump 240b, as in the embodiment shown in fig. 3. As shown in fig. 3, the cleaning apparatus 200b may further include a recovery bin 280 and a recovery duct 290.
The recovery bin 280 may contain the cleaning agent. Specifically, the recovery bin 280 may contain a cleaning agent, i.e., a cleaning agent dissolved with the electrolytic solution 002, which cleans at least one target cleaning member 180. One end of the recovery conduit 290 may be connected to the main negative pressure pipe 166 and the other end may be connected to the recovery bin 280. Recovery bin 280 may be in communication with transfer conduit 260 via recovery conduit 290, negative pressure main 166, and at least one target cleaning component 180. When the cleaning device 200b is in operation, the cleaning agent dissolved with the electrolyte 002 can flow from the storage device 220 through the transmission pipeline 260, the at least one target cleaning component 180, the negative pressure main pipe 166 and the recovery pipeline 290 to the recovery bin 280 under the driving of the power device 240 (the unidirectional hydraulic pump 240 b).
It should be noted that the recycling bin 280 may be separated from the storage device 220 to ensure that the clean cleaning agent and the used cleaning agent are separately stored, so as to ensure the cleaning effect of the cleaning agent and avoid waste. The recycling bin 280 may also be in communication with the storage device 220, i.e. the recycling bin 280 may be the storage device 220, to reuse the cleaning agent, reducing costs.
In some embodiments, the cleaning apparatus 200 may further include a control device 270. The control 270 may be communicatively coupled to the power plant 240 to control the direction of rotation, the speed of rotation, and the number of cycles of the power plant 240. The communication connection refers to any form of connection capable of receiving information directly or indirectly. For example, the control unit 270 may communicate data with the power unit 240 via a wireless connection via wireless communication; the control unit 270 may also be directly connected to the power unit 240 via a wire to transmit data to each other; the control unit 270 may also be directly connected to other circuitry via wires to establish an indirect connection with the power unit 240 to communicate data with each other.
As shown in fig. 2, the control device 270 may be communicatively connected to the bidirectional hydraulic pump 240a to control a rotational direction of the bidirectional hydraulic pump 240a, thereby controlling a direction in which the cleaning agent flows between the at least one target cleaning member 180 and the storage device 220. The control unit 270 may also control the rotational speed of the bi-directional hydraulic pump 240a to control the rate at which the cleaning agent flows between the at least one target cleaning member 180 and the reservoir 220. The control unit 270 may also control the number of cycles of the bi-directional hydraulic pump 240a to control the number of times the cleaning agent is circulated back and forth between the at least one target cleaning member 180 and the storage means 220.
As shown in fig. 3, the control device 270 may be communicatively connected to the one-way hydraulic pump 240b to control a rotational speed of the one-way hydraulic pump 240b to control a flow rate of the cleaning agent between the at least one target cleaning member 180 and the storage device 220. The control unit 270 may also control the operation time of the one-way hydraulic pump 240b, thereby controlling the cleaning time of the cleaning agent.
Fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a battery formation cleaning apparatus 100 with a cleaning apparatus 200a according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 5 is a flowchart of a method P100 for cleaning the battery formation apparatus 100 by the cleaning apparatus 200a according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the method P100 of the cleaning apparatus 200a for cleaning the battery formation apparatus 100 may include:
s120: the at least one interface 264 is connected to at least one target cleaning component 180 of the battery formation device 100. Specifically, the suction nozzle 182 of each target cleaning component 180 of the at least one target cleaning component 180 may be hermetically connected with one interface 264 of the at least one interface 264, so that the target cleaning component 180 and the storage device 220 communicate through the transmission pipeline 160, so that the cleaning agent may reach the target cleaning component 180 through the transmission pipeline.
The cleaning apparatus 200 may be fixed to the base 110 of the battery formation apparatus 100 while the cleaning apparatus 200 is in operation. Specifically, the base 210 of the cleaning apparatus 200 may be fixed to the base 110 of the battery formation apparatus 100.
S140: the interface 264 of the at least one interface 264 that is not connected to the at least one target cleaning unit 180 is sealed. In order to allow the cleaning apparatus 200 to accommodate different models and sizes of battery formation apparatuses 100, the number of the interfaces 264 may be different from the number of the target cleaning components 180, and the number of the interfaces 264 may be greater than the number of the target cleaning components 180. When the cleaning device 200 is operated, the interface 264 not connected to the target cleaning part 180 should be sealed to ensure that the cleaning agent can smoothly reach the at least one target cleaning part 180 without leakage.
S160: the power unit 240 (the bidirectional hydraulic pump 240a) drives the cleaning agent to circulate at least once between the at least one target cleaning part 180 and the storage device 220 to clean the at least one target cleaning part 180. Specifically, step S160 may include:
s162: the rotational direction of the power unit 240 (bidirectional hydraulic pump 240a) is controlled to drive the flow of the cleaning agent from the storage unit 220 to the at least one target cleaning part 180 through the transfer pipe 260.
S164: the direction of the power device 240 (bidirectional hydraulic pump 240a) is controlled to drive the cleaning agent to flow back to the storage device 220 through the transmission pipeline 260.
In order to ensure the cleaning effect, the power unit 240 (the bidirectional hydraulic pump 240a) may drive the cleaning agent to circulate between the at least one object cleaning part 180 and the storage device 220 a plurality of times, and repeatedly clean the at least one object cleaning part 180. Each cleaning includes steps S162 and S164. The control unit 270 may control the rotational speed of the power unit 240 (the bidirectional hydraulic pump 240a) to control the flow rate of the cleaning agent. The control unit 270 may also control the cycle time interval and the cycle number of the power unit 240 (the bidirectional hydraulic pump 240a) to control the cleaning time and the cleaning number of the cleaning agent for each of the at least one target cleaning part 180.
Method P100 may further include:
s180: after the cleaning is completed, the at least one interface 264 and the at least one target cleaning component 180 are disconnected.
Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of another cleaning apparatus 200b for cleaning the battery formation apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a method P200 for cleaning the battery formation apparatus 100 by the cleaning apparatus 200b according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 6 and 7, the method P200 of the cleaning apparatus 200b for cleaning the battery formation apparatus 100 may include:
s220: the at least one interface 264 is connected to at least one target cleaning component 180 of the battery formation device 100. This step is identical to step S120, and is not described herein again.
S240: the interface 264 of the at least one interface 264 that is not connected to the at least one target cleaning unit 180 is sealed. This step is identical to step S140, and is not described herein again.
The cleaning apparatus 200 may be fixed to the base 110 of the battery formation apparatus 100 while the cleaning apparatus 200 is in operation. Specifically, the base 210 of the cleaning apparatus 200 may be fixed to the base 110 of the battery formation apparatus 100.
S260: the power device 240 (the one-way hydraulic pump 240b) drives the cleaning agent to flow from the storage device 220 to the at least one target cleaning component 180 through the transmission pipeline 260, cleans the at least one target cleaning component 180, and flows from the at least one target cleaning component 180 to the recovery bin 280 through the negative pressure main pipe 166 and the recovery pipeline 290.
The control unit 270 may control the rotational speed of the power unit 240 (the one-way hydraulic pump 240b) to control the flow rate of the cleaning agent. The control unit 270 may also control the operation time of the power unit 240 (the one-way hydraulic pump 240b) to control the cleaning time of the at least one target cleaning part 180 by the cleaning agent.
Method P200 may further include:
s280: after the cleaning is completed, the at least one interface 264 and the at least one target cleaning component 180 are disconnected.
In summary, the cleaning apparatus 200 provided by the present application communicates the storage device 220 with the at least one target cleaning component 180 through the transmission pipeline 260, and is powered by the power device 240 to drive the cleaning agent to flow from the storage device 220 to the at least one target cleaning component 180, so as to clean the electrolyte in the target cleaning component 180; after the cleaning is finished, the cleaning agent is pumped out of the target cleaning part 180 by the power device 240, so that the fault of the battery formation equipment 100 caused by the blockage of the electrolyte crystallization is avoided.
In conclusion, upon reading the present detailed disclosure, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing detailed disclosure can be presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present application is intended to cover various reasonable variations, adaptations, and modifications of the embodiments described herein, although not explicitly described herein. Such alterations, improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested by this application and are within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of the application.
Furthermore, certain terminology has been used in this application to describe embodiments of the application. For example, "one embodiment," "an embodiment," and/or "some embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the application. Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to "an embodiment" or "one embodiment" or "an alternative embodiment" in various portions of this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined as suitable in one or more embodiments of the application.
It should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of embodiments of the present application, various features are grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in the understanding of one feature. This is not to be taken as an admission that any of the features of the claims are essential, and it is fully possible for a person skilled in the art to extract some of them as separate embodiments when reading the present application. That is, embodiments in the present application may also be understood as an integration of multiple sub-embodiments. And each sub-embodiment described herein is equally applicable to less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment.
Each patent, patent application, publication of a patent application, and other material, such as articles, books, descriptions, publications, documents, articles, and the like, cited herein is hereby incorporated by reference. All matters hithertofore set forth herein except as related to any prosecution history, may be inconsistent or conflicting with this document or any prosecution history which may have a limiting effect on the broadest scope of the claims. Now or later associated with this document. For example, if there is any inconsistency or conflict in the description, definition, and/or use of terms associated with any of the included materials with respect to the terms, descriptions, definitions, and/or uses associated with this document, the terms in this document are used.
Finally, it should be understood that the embodiments of the application disclosed herein are illustrative of the principles of the embodiments of the present application. Other modified embodiments are also within the scope of the present application. Accordingly, the disclosed embodiments are presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Those skilled in the art may implement the present application in alternative configurations according to the embodiments of the present application. Thus, embodiments of the present application are not limited to those precisely described in the application.