CN217493083U

CN217493083U - Electrode cutting device

Info

Publication number: CN217493083U
Application number: CN202123341412.6U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李赫洙; 李范硕; 朴廷玹; 金台洙; 朴东赫; 高铭振
Original assignee: LG Energy Solution Ltd
Current assignee: LG Energy Solution Ltd
Priority date: 2021-01-08
Filing date: 2021-12-28
Publication date: 2022-09-27
Anticipated expiration: 2031-12-28
Also published as: KR20220100468A; DE202022100080U1

Abstract

The cutting device of the electrode according to the present disclosure includes: and a cutter configured to perform cutting by irradiating a surface of the electrode unwound from the electrode roll with laser light to vaporize or melt the irradiated portion. The cutting method of the electrode according to the present disclosure includes: an electrode supplying step of moving the electrode unwound from the electrode roll toward the cutter; an electrode speed adjusting step of adjusting the moving speed of the electrode before the electrode unwound from the electrode roll reaches the cutting machine; and an electrode cutting step of cutting the electrode reaching the cutting position by the cutter, wherein the cutter irradiates laser to the surface of the electrode to complete the cutting of the electrode by vaporization or melting.

Description

Electrode cutting device

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an electrode cutting device, and more particularly, to an electrode cutting device that performs cutting by irradiating laser light to an electrode instead of conventional physical cutting. The cutting apparatus of the electrode according to the present disclosure may also be applied to the cutting of the separator in a unit cell in which the electrode and the separator are stacked.

Background

Unlike primary batteries, secondary batteries are rechargeable and have been developed more and more because of the possibility of miniaturization and higher capacity. As the technical development and demand for mobile devices increase, the demand for secondary batteries as an energy source is sharply increasing.

A secondary battery is constructed by disposing an electrode assembly in a battery case (pouch, can, etc.). The electrode assembly mounted inside the battery case is constructed in a stacked structure of cathode/separator/anode, so that charge and discharge can be repeated. The electrode assembly is manufactured in various manners, but is generally a stacking type manner manufactured by stacking a plurality of the unit cells 4 after the unit cells 4 are previously manufactured.

That is, referring to fig. 1a simply illustrating the case of manufacturing the unit cells, the unit cells 4 are manufactured in such a manner that the cathode 1, the upper-layer separator 3a, the anode 2, and the lower-layer separator 3b are continuously unwound and supplied in a state of being wound in a roll form, respectively, from above (however, the stacking positions of the cathode and the anode may be different).

The separators 3(3a, 3b) are continuously and continuously supplied, the negative electrode 2 unwound at the electrode roll (negative roll) is supplied between the upper separator 3a and the lower separator 3b, and the positive electrode 1 is supplied onto the upper separator 3a at the electrode roll 1c (positive roll).

At this time, the separator 3 is continuously supplied without being cut, and on the contrary, the positive electrode 1 and the negative electrode 2 are fed and supplied in a state of being cut to a predetermined size by the respective cutting portions 6 and 7.

The positive electrode 1 and the negative electrode 2 are paired and stacked on top of each other with an upper separator 3a interposed therebetween, and are disposed at a distance from the adjacent paired positive electrode 1 and negative electrode 2.

That is, the separator 3 is continuously connected, and the anode 2 and the cathode 1 pass through the lamination device 9 in a state of being spaced apart from the adjacent anode 2 and cathode 1 by a certain distance. The laminating device 9 applies heat and pressure to complete bonding at the position where the negative electrode 2 and the anode 1 are in contact with the separator 3.

The positive electrode 1 and the negative electrode 2 pass through the laminating device 9 in a state of being bonded to the separator 3, then pass through the pressing roller 5, and then the separator 3 is cut between the adjacent positive electrode 1 and positive electrode 1 (between the negative electrode and the negative electrode), thereby being provided as the unit cell 4.

The cutting portion 7 for cutting the positive electrode 1, the cutting portion 6 for cutting the negative electrode 2, and the cutting portion 8 for cutting the separator are all completed by applying pressure to the upper and lower sides of the electrode or the separator.

However, as shown in fig. 1b showing the case of the positive electrode 1 developed before cutting, the positive electrode 1 (and the negative electrode) is in a state where the positive electrode tab 1a and the shoulder line 1b are processed by a punching process, and thus it is necessary to accurately specify the cutting position.

Meanwhile, the manufacturing process of the unit cell 4 may be performed by cutting the positive electrode 1 and the negative electrode 2 in advance and then putting the cut individual electrodes 1 and 2, but may be performed by a continuous process. In this case, when a continuous process is applied, more rapid cutting is required. However, this physical cutting method is limited in shortening the cutting time.

In addition, since the conventional cutting portions 6, 7, and 8 continuously apply pressure to the ends at which the cutting is completed, there is a problem that the cutting surfaces of the electrodes (or the diaphragms) are detached when the ends are dulled.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

Technical problem

Therefore, the present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a cutting device of an electrode, which completes cutting not by physical contact but by laser irradiation, so that cutting can be completed more rapidly and accurately, and a problem of detachment occurring at a cut surface can be solved.

Meanwhile, the cutting apparatus for an electrode according to the present disclosure is applicable to not only cutting of a positive electrode and a negative electrode but also cutting of a separator.

Technical scheme

In order to achieve the above objects, the present disclosure provides a method and an apparatus for cutting an electrode.

The present disclosure provides a method for cutting an electrode, including: an electrode supplying step of moving the electrode unwound from the electrode roll toward the cutter; an electrode speed adjusting step of adjusting the moving speed of the electrode before the electrode unwound from the electrode roll reaches the cutting machine; and an electrode cutting step of cutting the electrode reaching the cutting position by the cutter, wherein the cutter irradiates laser to the surface of the electrode to complete the cutting of the electrode by vaporization or melting.

The disclosed cutting device for the electrode comprises: and a cutter that irradiates a laser to a surface of the electrode supplied being unwound from the electrode roll, so that the irradiated portion is vaporized or melted, thereby completing cutting.

The cutting device of electrode of this disclosure includes: a buffer part arranged between the electrode roller and the cutter so that the electrode unwound from the electrode roller is supplied to the cutter at a predetermined speed.

The buffer part comprises an upper roller arranged at the relatively upper side and a lower roller arranged at the relatively lower side, the electrode alternately passes through the upper roller and the lower roller, and at least one of the upper roller and the lower roller slides in the vertical direction during the electrode moves through the upper roller and the lower roller so as to adjust the moving speed of the electrode.

The upper rollers and the lower rollers are respectively provided with at least two rollers, so that the lower rollers are arranged between the adjacent upper rollers, and the upper rollers are arranged between the adjacent lower rollers.

The buffer part further includes drawing rollers that draw in the electrodes before the electrodes reach the upper and lower rollers, the drawing rollers being provided one on each of upper and lower sides of the electrodes so that the electrodes pass between the drawing rollers.

The buffer part further comprises extraction rollers, the extraction rollers extract the electrodes passing through the upper rollers and the lower rollers, and one extraction roller is arranged on the upper side and the lower side of each electrode so that the electrodes can pass through the extraction rollers.

The respective stopping and rotation of the drawing-in roller and the drawing-out roller are adjusted according to the cutting speed of the cutting machine.

The cushioning portion includes a load cell through the upper portion of which an electrode passes, the load cell being used to sense a change in an applied load.

The cutting machine irradiates laser through a telecentric F-theta lens.

The cutter etches an electrode with a long pulse laser having a pulse width of 10ns or more, then etches the electrode with a short pulse laser having a pulse width of less than 10ns, and then cuts the remaining part.

The cutting machine comprises an optical device for optically monitoring the position of the irradiated laser, and the cutting position is selected through the optical device and adjusted.

Advantageous effects

The present disclosure having the technical features as described above cuts the electrode (and/or the separator) by laser irradiation without physical contact, and thus can complete cutting more rapidly and accurately.

At the same time, since abrasion due to contact of cutting does not occur, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a phenomenon in which the cut surface is detached.

Further, since the buffer section controls the moving speed of the electrode wound out from the electrode roll, the cutting can be stably completed.

The buffer portion can adjust the moving speed by adjusting the moving length of the electrode by the lifting of the upper roller and the lower roller, and the upper roller and the lower roller are respectively provided with a plurality of rollers to apply pressure in a wide area, so that the deformation caused by the pressure generated along with the lifting of the upper roller and the lower roller can be prevented.

The stop and rotation of the drawing roller and the drawing roller are adjusted according to the cutting speed of the cutting machine, so that the moving speed of the electrode can be more effectively controlled.

Then, a load cell (loadcell) included in the buffer part senses the shaking of the electrodes by sensing a load change of the electrodes, and the lifting of the upper and lower rollers and the rotation and stop of the drawing-in and drawing-out rollers can be controlled by the sensed information.

The cutting machine is configured to etch an electrode by using a long pulse laser with a pulse width of 10ns or more, then etch by using a short pulse laser with a pulse width of less than 10ns, and then cut the remaining part, thereby minimizing a splash (scatter) loss generated during laser irradiation and minimizing generation of Dross (Dross) on a cut surface.

Then, the cutter includes an optical device that optically monitors the position of the irradiated laser light, so that an optimum cutting position can be selected by the optical device.

Drawings

Fig. 1a is a schematic view simply illustrating a case of manufacturing a unit cell.

Fig. 1b is a schematic diagram showing a case where the positive electrode is developed.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view simply illustrating a cutting apparatus according to the present disclosure.

Fig. 3a is a schematic diagram showing a case where a long pulse laser is irradiated at a dicing machine.

Fig. 3b is a schematic diagram showing a case where the cutter is irradiated with short pulse laser light, and the upper roller and the lower roller included in the buffer section are lifted and lowered.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a case where an optical device is additionally disposed near the dicing machine.

Reference numerals:

10: cutting machine

20: deployment device

30: buffer part

31: upper side roller

32: lower side roller

33: lead-in roller

34: drawing roller

35: load cell

40: cassette

50: optical device

Detailed Description

The present disclosure is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily practice the present disclosure. However, the present disclosure may be embodied in many forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

In order to clearly explain the present disclosure, portions that are not relevant to the description are omitted, and the same reference numerals are given to the same or similar structural components throughout the specification.

In addition, the terms or words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as limited to conventional or dictionary meanings, but interpreted only as meanings and concepts conforming to the technical idea of the present disclosure on the basis of the principle that the inventor can appropriately define the concept of the term in order to explain his invention by the best method.

The present disclosure relates to a cutting method and a cutting apparatus of electrodes (i.e., a positive electrode and a negative electrode) that can be applied in the preparation of a unit cell 4 having electrodes 1, 2 stacked between a lower separator 3b and an upper separator 3a and on the upper separator 3a, respectively.

Therefore, the cutting device of the present disclosure may be provided instead of the cutting portion 7 that cuts the positive electrode 1 and the cutting portion 6 that cuts the negative electrode 2 in fig. 1 a. Meanwhile, the cutter according to the present disclosure may replace the cutting part 8 that cuts the diaphragms 3a, 3 b.

That is, the cutting parts 6, 7, 8 may be removed in the configuration of fig. 1a, and a cutter 10 according to the present disclosure may be provided, and a buffer part 30 may be further provided at the cutter 10 in place of the cutting parts 6, 7 of the cutting electrode.

First embodiment

In the present disclosure, a cutting device of an electrode is provided as a first embodiment. The cutting device provided in this embodiment is a device for cutting an electrode in a predetermined size, and includes a cutter 10 that irradiates a laser to the surface of the electrode 1 supplied by being unwound from the electrode roll 1c, and the irradiated portion is gasified or melted to complete the cutting.

The laser beam irradiated by the dicing machine 10 is irradiated with sufficient power so that the laser beam is vaporized or melted to complete dicing not only when irradiated to the electrode (positive electrode and/or negative electrode) but also when irradiated to the separator.

The cutting machine 10 may be laser-irradiated through a Telecentric F-theta (tele F-theta) lens. Telecentric F-theta lenses, as a lens that adds an optical system to illuminate the laser such that the chief ray always intersects the cut surface perpendicularly regardless of the angle of illumination, can more efficiently collect the energy of the laser than other types of lenses.

On the one hand, fig. 2 is a schematic view simply illustrating a cutting device according to the present disclosure, fig. 3a is a schematic view illustrating a case where a long pulse laser is irradiated in the cutter 10, fig. 3b is a schematic view illustrating a case where the cutter 10 is irradiated with a short pulse laser, and the upper roller 31 and the lower roller 32 included in the buffer 30 are moved up and down, and fig. 4 is a schematic view illustrating a case where an optical device 50 is additionally disposed near the cutter 10.

Referring to the drawings, the cutting apparatus provided in this embodiment is provided with a buffer 30 between the electrode roll 1c and the cutter 10 so that the electrode 1 unwound from the electrode roll 1c by the rotation of the take-up device 20 is supplied to the cutter 10 at a predetermined speed.

The buffer 30 includes an upper roller 31 disposed on a relatively upper side and a lower roller 32 disposed on a relatively lower side.

As shown in the figure, at least two or more upper rollers 31 and lower rollers 32 are disposed respectively so that the lower rollers 32 are disposed between the adjacent upper rollers 31 and the upper rollers 31 are disposed between the adjacent lower rollers 32

Then, the electrode 1 is alternately passed through the upper rollers 31 and the lower rollers 32, and at least one of the upper rollers 31 and the lower rollers 32, preferably both the upper rollers 31 and the lower rollers 32 slip in the up-down direction as shown in fig. 3b while the electrode 1 is moved by the upper rollers 31 and the lower rollers 32, thereby adjusting the moving speed of the electrode 1. That is, the adjustment of the moving speed means that the upper roller 31 and the lower roller 32 are raised or lowered to increase or shorten the moving path of the electrode 1, thereby adjusting the moving amount and the moving speed of the electrode 1 when it reaches the cutter 10.

Meanwhile, the buffer part 30 further includes: an introducing roller 33 that introduces the electrode 1 before the electrode 1 reaches the upper roller 31 and the lower roller 32; and a take-out roller 34 that takes out the electrode 1 passing through the upper roller 31 and the lower roller 32.

The drawing rollers 33 are respectively provided one on the upper and lower sides of the electrode 1 so that the electrode 1 passes therebetween, and the drawing rollers 34 are also respectively provided one on the upper and lower sides of the electrode 1 so that the electrode 1 passes therethrough.

Therefore, the electrode 1 slipping between the drawing roller 33 and the drawing roller 34 can be engaged therebetween, and therefore, the respective stopping and rotation of the drawing roller 33 and the drawing roller 34 can be controlled according to the cutting speed of the cutter 10, so that the moving speed of the electrode 1 can be further adjusted.

In addition, the buffer portion includes a load cell (loadcell) 35. The load cell 35 is provided in a roller-like structure to enable the electrode 1 to pass through the upper portion of the load cell, thereby sensing a change in the applied load (by tension generated when the electrode moves). Therefore, by measuring the load (or pressure) applied to the load cell 35, the occurrence of shaking of the electrode 1 can be sensed. Then, the slippage or rotation of the upper and

lower rollers

31 and 32 and the drawing-in and drawing-out

rollers

33 and 34 can be controlled by the sensed information. Thereby, the electrode 1 can be kept in a flat state when it reaches the cutter 10, and thus cutting can be stably completed.

In one aspect, in the present disclosure, cutting by the cutting machine 10 may be accomplished in two stages. That is, as shown in fig. 3a, the cutting machine 10 can etch the electrode 1 with a long pulse laser having a pulse width of 10ns or more, and irradiate a cut surface (or an etched surface) with a short pulse laser having a pulse width of less than 10ns, thereby smoothing the cut state of the cut surface. That is, after cutting is performed using the laser light of relatively high power, the cutting is terminated by re-irradiation with the laser light of relatively low power, so that spatter generated at the time of cutting and dross generated at the cut surface can be minimized.

Then, in this embodiment, the cutting device may include an optical device 50 that optically monitors the position of the irradiated laser light. As shown in fig. 4, the optical device 50 is configured to optically monitor the location where the cut is completed, thereby enabling selection of a cutting location, providing the information needed to adjust the cutting location.

The electrodes 1 cut by the cutting means as described above are stacked in a predetermined number on a cartridge 40 after the cutting is completed and stored, or as shown in fig. 1a, are put on or between the separators immediately upon cutting.

On the other hand, although the electrode is used as a reference in this embodiment, the present invention can be applied to cutting a separator in the production of a cell as long as there is no problem in passing through the upper roller 31, the lower roller 32, the drawing roller 33, and the drawing roller 34.

Second embodiment

In one aspect, in the present disclosure, a cutting method of an electrode that can be suitably used in the cutting device provided in the first embodiment is provided by the second embodiment.

The electrode cutting method provided in this embodiment includes an electrode supplying step, an electrode speed adjusting step, and an electrode cutting step.

In the electrode supplying step, the unwound electrode (positive electrode or negative electrode) is moved toward the cutter 10 by unwinding the electrode roll (positive electrode roll or negative electrode roll).

Then, during the electrode supplying step, before the electrode 1 reaches the cutter 10, the moving speed of the electrode 1 is adjusted in the electrode speed adjusting step. This step can be performed by the operation and control of the buffer section 30 described above.

In the electrode cutting step, the electrode 1 that reaches the cutting position is cut by the cutter 10. In this step, the cutter 10 irradiates a laser to the surface of the electrode to complete the cutting of the electrode by vaporization or melting.

The present disclosure having the technical features as described above is to cut the electrode (and/or the separator) by laser irradiation without physical contact, and thus the cutting can be more rapidly and accurately accomplished.

At the same time, wear due to contact of cutting does not occur, so that the occurrence of separation of the cut surface can be suppressed.

Then, the buffer 30 can control the moving speed of the electrode 1 unwound from the electrode roll, and thus the cutting can be stably completed.

The buffer part 30 can adjust the moving speed by adjusting the moving length of the electrode by the up-and-down movement of the upper roller 31 and the lower roller 32, and can prevent deformation due to the pressure generated by the up-and-down movement of the upper roller 31 and the lower roller 32 because the upper roller 31 and the lower roller 32 are provided in plurality, and pressure is applied over a wide area.

The stop and rotation of each of the drawing roller 33 and the drawing roller 34 are adjusted by the cutting speed of the cutter, so that the moving speed of the electrode can be more effectively controlled.

Then, a load cell (load) 35 included in the buffer part senses a change in load (load) of the electrode, thereby sensing shaking of the electrode, and by the sensed information, it is possible to control lifting of the upper and

lower rollers

31 and 32 and rotation and stop of the drawing-in and drawing-out

rollers

33 and 34.

The cutting machine 10 etches an electrode using a long pulse laser having a pulse width of 10ns or more, then etches the electrode using a short pulse laser having a pulse width of less than 10ns, and then cuts the remaining portion, thereby minimizing a splash (scatter) loss occurring when the laser is irradiated, and greatly reducing generation of Dross (Dross) on the cut surface.

Then, the dicing machine includes an optical device 50 that optically monitors the position of the irradiated laser light, so that an optimum dicing position can be selected by the optical device 50.

Although the present disclosure has been described above by way of the embodiments and the drawings, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and various implementations can be made by those having ordinary knowledge in the art to which the present disclosure pertains within the technical idea of the present disclosure and the equivalent scope of the patent claims.

Claims

1. An electrode cutting device, comprising:

and a cutter that irradiates a laser to a surface of the electrode supplied being unwound from the electrode roll, so that the irradiated portion is vaporized or melted, thereby completing cutting.

2. The electrode cutting device of claim 1, comprising:

a buffer part arranged between the electrode roller and the cutter so that the electrode unwound from the electrode roller is supplied to the cutter at a predetermined speed.

3. The electrode cutting device of claim 2,

the buffer part comprises an upper roller arranged at the relatively upper side and a lower roller arranged at the relatively lower side, the electrodes alternately pass through the upper roller and the lower roller,

at least one of the upper roller and the lower roller slides in the vertical direction while the electrode is moved by the upper roller and the lower roller to adjust the moving speed of the electrode.

4. The electrode cutting device of claim 3,

5. The electrode cutting device of claim 3,

the buffer section further includes an introduction roller that introduces the electrode before the electrode reaches the upper and lower rollers,

the drawing rollers are provided one on each of upper and lower sides of the electrodes so that the electrodes pass between the drawing rollers.

6. The electrode cutting device of claim 5,

the buffer part also comprises a drawing roller which draws out the electrodes passing through the upper roller and the lower roller,

the drawing rollers are respectively arranged on the upper side and the lower side of the electrode, so that the electrode passes through the drawing rollers.

7. The electrode cutting device of claim 6,

8. The electrode cutting device of claim 6,

the buffer portion includes a load cell, an electrode passes through an upper portion of the load cell,

the load cell is used to sense changes in the applied load.

9. The electrode cutting device of claim 1,

the cutting machine irradiates laser through a telecentric F-theta lens.

10. The electrode cutting device of claim 1,

the cutting machine etches an electrode by using a long pulse laser with a pulse width of 10ns or more, then etches the electrode by using a short pulse laser with a pulse width of less than 10ns, and then cuts the remaining part.

11. The electrode cutting device of claim 1,