CN217719707U - Battery processing comprehensive equipment - Google Patents

Battery processing comprehensive equipment Download PDF

Info

Publication number
CN217719707U
CN217719707U CN202221330984.6U CN202221330984U CN217719707U CN 217719707 U CN217719707 U CN 217719707U CN 202221330984 U CN202221330984 U CN 202221330984U CN 217719707 U CN217719707 U CN 217719707U
Authority
CN
China
Prior art keywords
centering
battery
centering head
head
battery processing
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Active
Application number
CN202221330984.6U
Other languages
Chinese (zh)
Inventor
冉昌林
李宜宸
李鹏
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Wuhan Yifi Laser Corp Ltd
Original Assignee
Wuhan Yifi Laser Corp Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Wuhan Yifi Laser Corp Ltd filed Critical Wuhan Yifi Laser Corp Ltd
Priority to CN202221330984.6U priority Critical patent/CN217719707U/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CN217719707U publication Critical patent/CN217719707U/en
Active legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

Links

Images

Classifications

    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02PCLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
    • Y02P70/00Climate change mitigation technologies in the production process for final industrial or consumer products
    • Y02P70/50Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product
    • YGENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02WCLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT
    • Y02W30/00Technologies for solid waste management
    • Y02W30/50Reuse, recycling or recovery technologies
    • Y02W30/84Recycling of batteries or fuel cells

Landscapes

  • Primary Cells (AREA)

Abstract

The utility model provides a battery processing synthesizes equipment, this equipment of synthesizing includes: the battery cell centering mechanism at least comprises a first centering head and a second centering head, the first centering head and the second centering head are arranged oppositely, and the first centering head and the second centering head are used for being connected with two ends of a battery cell; the length measuring reference rod is arranged on one side of the battery cell centering mechanism and used for measuring the length of the battery cell in a centering state; the utility model provides a battery processing integrated equipment has integrateed multiple functions such as electric core centering, short circuit test and length test to above-mentioned function is gone on at same station, compares with the battery production facility among the prior art, and low in production cost, area are little, and production efficiency is high, can realize multiple functions again.

Description

Battery processing comprehensive equipment
Technical Field
The utility model relates to a battery production field, in particular to battery processing integrated equipment.
Background
In modern society, environmental destruction is increasingly serious, and in order to protect the environment, the whole society has the consciousness of energy conservation and emission reduction. In the latest battery production field, four production sections are provided for a battery before tab welding, wherein the four production sections are respectively as follows: the battery core is centered, the lugs on two sides of the battery core are kneaded flat, short-circuit testing and length testing are carried out, the four battery production sections are basically realized by using independent stations to carry out functions in the prior art, but the arrangement of the independent stations occupies space, increases equipment cost and is not in accordance with the concept of energy conservation and emission reduction.
Patent application with publication number CN110625310A discloses a battery core tab co-welding device, which comprises: conveying mechanism and the utmost point ear guiding mechanism that sets gradually along conveying mechanism's direction of delivery, mechanism and welding mechanism are held to electric core centering mechanism and electric core pressure, conveying mechanism carries electric core one by one to utmost point ear guiding mechanism, utmost point ear guiding mechanism adjusts the positive ear of electric core to the level and lies in same one side, so that the accurate welding of welding mechanism, after the positive ear angular adjustment of electric core, carry to centering mechanism through conveying mechanism once more, centering mechanism is with the axis adjustment of electric core to the direction of delivery mutually perpendicular with conveying mechanism, hold the mechanism through electric core pressure afterwards and compress tightly electric core, start welding mechanism and weld afterwards and can accomplish electric core utmost point ear and close the welding operation, because carry out the centering and compress tightly to the positive ear angle of electric core and the position of electric core before closing the welding, consequently, can guarantee welding position's accuracy, improve the welding quality. The device provided by the publication integrates four procedures of conveying, centering, flattening and welding, and can realize four functions in the same device, but the components for realizing the four functions are only mechanically combined, the occupied area is still large, the problems of pole piece burrs, diaphragm damage, core internal splintering and the like can occur after the flattening of the battery core pole ear, the internal resistance of the battery is easily increased or the positive pole piece and the negative pole piece of the battery are directly in physical contact to generate short circuit, therefore, the short circuit test is required after the flattening procedure of the battery core pole ear, but the device does not perform the procedure, and therefore, the safety risk exists.
Patent application with publication number CN112453109A provides automatic kneading and flattening equipment, and relates to the technical field of battery cell manufacturing equipment. This automatic equipment of rubbing down includes the end cabinet, still includes linear slide rail, electric core and presss from both sides dress mechanism, rubs the flat mechanism linear slide rail fixed mounting be in on the end cabinet, electric core press from both sides dress mechanism and installs linear slide rail is so that follow linear slide rail is at last material level and rubs the round trip movement between the flat position, rub flat mechanism and install linear slide rail's side is so that right electric core that electric core pressed from both sides the dress mechanism centre gripping is rubbed the flat operation. The embodiment of the utility model provides an automatic rub flat equipment, artifical or place electric core with the help of the arm and press from both sides dress mechanism at electric core and carry out the material loading, wait to press from both sides dress mechanism by electric core after the material loading is accomplished and remove to rubbing flat-bed machine and construct the department along linear slide rail, press from both sides the electric core of dress mechanism centre gripping and rub flat to electric core by rubbing flat-bed machine and construct, whole process is artifical the participation degree low, helps improving the production efficiency of cylinder electricity core. The device can realize the processes of centering, kneading and short-circuit testing of the cylindrical battery core, has high integration level and high automation level, but the battery production technology at the present stage is obviously improved compared with the prior battery production technology; at present, in the prior art, strict measurement requirements are required for the external dimension of a battery cell, the external dimension of the battery cell must be measured before a battery assembling process, if the length of the battery cell does not reach the standard, subsequent electrode flow tray welding is affected, so that the over-welding or insufficient-welding condition occurs in the welding process, and in addition, if the length of the battery cell does not reach the standard, the subsequent case entering seal welding is further affected, so that the battery cannot be sealed and the like; in addition, the distance between two ends of the battery cell is changed due to the fact that the battery cell is rubbed flatly, length testing needs to be conducted after the battery cell is rubbed flatly in the prior art, the device is free of a length testing unit, production beats can be prolonged when length testing is conducted in a subsequent workshop section, the occupied area of equipment is increased, and the cost is increased.
In summary, in the prior art, the multi-stage process of battery production is basically realized by using separate stations to perform functions, so that the cost of equipment is increased while the space is occupied, the production efficiency is reduced to a certain extent, and the production benefits of enterprises are affected, so that in order to further respond to the call of social energy conservation and emission reduction and realize the functions required by the equipment in a more economic form, the comprehensive equipment for battery processing, which has the advantages of small occupied space, high production efficiency, low equipment cost and the functions of cell centering, flattening, short circuit testing and length testing, is urgently needed to be developed.
Disclosure of Invention
The utility model discloses in prior art, it is big to realize the battery centering, rub flat, short circuit test and length test function's production facility occupation of land space, and equipment cost is high, and the low scheduling problem of production efficiency provides a battery processing equipment complex, equipment complex occupation of land space is little, and production efficiency is high, can realize multiple functions again when equipment cost is low.
The utility model provides a battery processing equipment complex, this equipment possess electric core centering, rub flat, short circuit test and length test's function, specifically include:
the battery cell centering mechanism at least comprises a first centering head and a second centering head, the first centering head and the second centering head are arranged oppositely, and the first centering head and the second centering head are used for being connected with two ends of a battery cell;
and the length measuring reference rod is arranged on one side of the battery cell centering mechanism and is used for measuring the length of the battery cell in a centering state.
One of the concepts of the utility model lies in that the centering of electric core, short circuit test and length test can be carried out at same station, improve production and detection efficiency.
Specifically, the integrated equipment comprises a cell centering mechanism and a length measuring reference rod, wherein the cell centering mechanism is used for centering a cell so as to ensure that the axis of the cell is perpendicular to the incoming direction of the cell, and the cell flattening device is used for performing equivalent flattening on a cell flattening plane, so that the flattening mechanism can conveniently perform operation; the cell centering mechanism at least comprises a first centering head and a second centering head, and the first centering head and the second centering head are used for compressing the cell.
Further, the first centering head and the second centering head are conductive heads which can be used as short circuit testing conductive heads, and when the first centering head and the second centering head contact lugs on two sides of the battery cell, direct short circuit testing can be carried out; the length measuring device comprises a first centering head, a second centering head, a length measuring reference rod and a second centering head, wherein the first centering head is provided with a length measuring sensor, the length measuring reference rod is arranged on one side of the first centering head and the second centering head, and the second centering head is fixedly installed on the second centering head and used for measuring the length of a battery cell in a compression state.
Furthermore, the short circuit test can be carried out after the first centering head and the second centering head contact the battery core lug, the length test needs to be carried out under the state that the first centering head and the second centering head compress the battery core, in order to further improve the detection efficiency, the short circuit test and the length test can be carried out simultaneously, namely, the short circuit test and the length test are carried out under the state that the first centering head and the second centering head compress the battery core, therefore, the battery core centering, the three processes of the short circuit test and the length measurement can be carried out at one station, the cost is saved, the beat is faster, and the space is saved.
To sum up, the utility model provides a battery processing comprehensive device, which comprises a cell centering mechanism and a length measuring reference rod;
the battery cell centering mechanism comprises a first centering head, a second centering head, at least two fixing devices and at least two sliding tables, the first centering head and the second centering head are oppositely arranged, and the fixing devices and the sliding tables are arranged on the first centering head and the second centering head on two sides of the comprehensive equipment and are respectively fixedly connected with the fixing devices on two sides; the first centering head and the second centering head are respectively and fixedly connected with the fixing devices at two sides, the kneading flat wheels at two sides are respectively and fixedly connected with the fixing devices at two sides, and the fixing devices are arranged on the sliding tables at two sides;
the first centering head and the second centering head can be used as short circuit test conductive heads and used for carrying out short circuit test;
the length measuring device comprises a first centering head, a second centering head, a length measuring reference rod and a second centering head, wherein the first centering head is provided with a length measuring sensor, the length measuring reference rod is arranged on one side of the first centering head and the second centering head, and the second centering head is fixedly installed on the second centering head and used for measuring the length of a battery cell in a compression state.
In one embodiment, the integrated equipment further comprises a cell flattening device, the cell flattening device at least comprises a flattening wheel and a driving mechanism, the flattening wheel and the driving mechanism are arranged on two sides of the integrated equipment, the flattening wheels on the two sides are oppositely arranged so as to flatten the cells grabbed by the cell grabbing device, and the positioning and operation of the flattening wheel are powered by the driving mechanism;
specifically, the cell centering mechanism includes a first centering head, a second centering head, two fixing devices and two sliding tables, the first centering head and the second centering head are oppositely arranged on two sides of the integrated device, and the two fixing devices and the two sliding tables are also respectively arranged on two sides of the integrated device; the first centering head and the second centering head are respectively and fixedly connected with fixing devices on two sides; the two side kneading flat wheels are respectively fixedly connected with the two side fixing devices, and the fixing devices are installed on the two side sliding tables.
Further, when electric core centering, electric core centering mechanism promotes by both sides slip table and feeds, and both sides slip table promote first centering head and second centering head when being close to electric core, rub flat device with fixing device fixed connection's electric core and be driven to the centre and be close to, reduce actuating mechanism drive and rub the time of flat wheel location electric core both sides utmost point ear, increase and rub flat efficiency.
In some embodiments, the positions of the two side kneading flat wheels are at least 10mm behind the positions of the first centering head and the second centering head, so that the battery cell can enter the kneading flat ring section without hindrance when being lifted by the battery cell grabbing mechanism, and the battery cell is prevented from colliding with the kneading flat wheels when being lifted, and the battery cell and the production equipment are prevented from being damaged.
In some embodiments, the battery processing comprehensive equipment is provided with a battery cell walking and conveying sliding table in the middle, the height of the battery cell walking and conveying sliding table is the same as that of the conductive heads on two sides, and a battery cell centering mechanism can conveniently center a supplied battery cell.
In some embodiments, in order to improve the convenience of detection in three aspects, test data of the centering, short-circuit detection and length detection can be transmitted to the PLC through an electric signal and displayed in a control panel of the device, and the control mechanism can intelligently judge whether the size of the battery cell is qualified or not, and the unqualified battery cell can be displayed in a display of the device.
The utility model provides a battery processing integrated equipment has integrateed multiple functions such as electric core centering, short circuit test and length test to above-mentioned function is gone on at same station, compares with the battery production facility among the prior art, and low in production cost, area are little, and production efficiency is high, can realize multiple functions again.
Drawings
The present invention will be described in further detail below with reference to the drawings and preferred embodiments, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that the drawings are only drawn for the purpose of explaining the preferred embodiments, and therefore should not be taken as limiting the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, unless specifically stated otherwise, the drawings are merely schematic representations based on the concept of a composition or construction of the object being described and may include exaggerated displays and are not necessarily drawn to scale.
Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a comprehensive battery production apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of FIG. 1 at A;
fig. 3 is a process flow chart of a comprehensive battery production apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
wherein, 1, a first kneading flat wheel; 2. a second kneading flat wheel; 3. a first centering head; 4. a second centering head; 5. a length measuring reference rod; 6. a second servo motor; 7. a first servo motor; 8. a first fixing device; 9. a second fixing device; 10. a first sliding table; 11. a second sliding table; 12. a support; 13. a base; 501. a length measuring sensor; 502. and a limiting plate.
Detailed Description
The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings 1 to 3.
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the invention.
In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected" and "connected" are to be construed broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention can be understood as appropriate by those of ordinary skill in the art.
The utility model provides a pair of battery production integrated equipment specifically as shown in figure 1 and figure 2:
the integrated equipment comprises a cell centering mechanism, a length measuring reference rod 5, a support 12 and a base 13;
the battery cell centering mechanism comprises a first centering head 3, a second centering head 4, a first fixing device 8, a second fixing device 9, a first sliding table 10 and a second sliding table 11; first centering head 3 sets up with second centering head 4 relatively, first centering head 3 and 8 fixed connection of first fixing device, second centering head 4 and 9 fixed connection of second fixing device, first slip table 10 and 8 fixed connection of first fixing device, second slip table 11 and 9 fixed connection of second fixing device, first fixing device 8 and second fixing device 9 are fixed on support 12, and support 12 is fixed on base 13, first centering head 3 and second centering head 4 are used for compressing tightly electric core to guarantee the axis of electric core and electric core supplied materials direction mutually perpendicular, the mechanism of being convenient for rubs flat and constructs and carry out the operation.
In this embodiment, the length measuring sensor 501 is connected to one side of the first centering head 3, specifically, connected through the limiting plate 502, the second sliding table 11 is fixed with the length measuring reference rod 5, the length measuring sensor 501 and the length measuring reference rod 5 are both used for measuring the length of the electrical core in a compressed state, and the first centering head 3 and the second centering head 4 can also be used as short circuit testing conductive heads for performing short circuit testing. The conductive head is made of metal, and in order to ensure conductivity, the conductive head is made of metal copper.
In one embodiment, the present invention provides a process flow diagram for a battery processing integrated equipment for the apparatus of fig. 1, as specifically shown in fig. 3:
s1: and (4) centering the battery core.
The battery cell is transported to the middle station of the comprehensive equipment through the step line, and the battery cell centering mechanism performs centering operation, so that the axis of the battery cell is perpendicular to the incoming direction of the battery cell, and the kneading mechanism can perform operation conveniently on the next step.
S2: and kneading and flattening the battery core.
The electric core snatchs the mechanism and snatchs centered electric core and rub flat device middle to the electric core, and servo motor rubs the steamboat for both sides and provides the power to centered electric core, and both sides are rubbed the steamboat and are contacted and begin to rub flat operation behind centering electric core both sides utmost point ear.
S3: and (5) centering the battery cell again, and simultaneously carrying out short circuit test and length test.
The electric core grabbing mechanism grabs the flat electric core and places the electric core on a walking line, and the centering conductive heads on the two sides operate again to tightly press the two sides of the electric core; the conductive heads on the two sides can be used as a centering conductive head and also can be used as a short-circuit testing conductive head, whether a short-circuit condition exists in the battery cell is detected after the battery cell is electrified, and when the short-circuit testing conductive head is tightly attached, the length measuring sensor detects the distance between the length measuring sensor and the length measuring reference rod 5 to carry out length testing.
In one embodiment, the integration apparatus further comprises: the battery cell flattening device comprises the following components:
the battery cell flattening device comprises a first flattening wheel 1, a second flattening wheel 2, a first servo motor 7, a second servo motor 6, a rotary driving unit and a connecting plate; the first kneading flat wheel 1 and the second kneading flat wheel 2 are arranged oppositely, the first kneading flat wheel 1 and the second kneading flat wheel 2 are provided with rotary driving units, the rotary driving units are fixedly arranged on connecting plates, the connecting plates are respectively fixed on the first fixing device 8 and the second fixing device 9, the first servo motor 7 and the second servo motor 6 are respectively arranged on the connecting plates at two sides, and the first servo motor 7 and the second servo motor 6 are electrically connected with the rotary driving units.
In one embodiment, a cell flattening device of a battery processing integrated device is provided, which includes:
rub flat device including awl rim plate, thimble, rub flat wheel and mount pad, three rub flat wheel and install on the mount pad, rub flat wheel and be used for electric core to rub flat operation, the mount pad is fixed on the awl rim plate, and the thimble is vertical to be installed the centre of awl rim plate for the position of location electric core utmost point ear.
It is right above the utility model discloses to have carried out detailed introduction, and it is right to have used specific individual example here the utility model discloses a principle and embodiment have explained, and the explanation of above embodiment only is used for helping to understand the utility model discloses and core thought. It should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, without departing from the principle of the present invention, the present invention can be further modified and modified, and such modifications and modifications also fall within the protection scope of the appended claims.

Claims (10)

1. A battery processing complex, said complex comprising at least:
the battery cell centering mechanism at least comprises a first centering head and a second centering head, and the first centering head and the second centering head are arranged oppositely;
and the length measuring reference rod is arranged on one side of the electric core centering mechanism and is used for measuring the length of the electric core in a centering state.
2. The integrated battery processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first centering head and the second centering head are conductive heads for performing a short circuit test.
3. The battery processing integrated equipment of claim 2, wherein the cell centering operation, the short circuit test and the length test are performed at the same station.
4. A battery processing integrated facility in accordance with claim 1, further comprising: the battery cell flattening device comprises a flattening wheel and a driving mechanism, the flattening wheel is arranged on two sides of the comprehensive equipment, the driving mechanism is used for driving the flattening wheel to operate, and the battery cell flattening device is arranged above the battery cell centering mechanism.
5. The battery processing complex of claim 4, wherein said leveling wheel is positioned rearwardly of said first and second centering heads.
6. The battery processing integrated equipment of claim 4, wherein the cell centering mechanism further comprises a fixing device and a sliding table, the fixing device is used for fixing the first centering head and the second centering head, the fixing device is installed on the sliding tables on two sides, and the flattening wheels on two sides are respectively and fixedly connected with the fixing devices on two sides.
7. The battery processing complex apparatus of claim 6, wherein the cell flattening device is fixedly connected above the fixing device.
8. The integrated battery processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the length measuring reference bar is fixedly connected to the second centering head; one side of the first centering head is provided with a length measuring sensor.
9. A battery processing complex according to claim 5, wherein the position of the planing wheel is at least 10mm from the first and second centring heads.
10. The battery processing complex of claim 6, further comprising: the fixing device is fixed on the support, and the support is fixed on the base.
CN202221330984.6U 2022-05-27 2022-05-27 Battery processing comprehensive equipment Active CN217719707U (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN202221330984.6U CN217719707U (en) 2022-05-27 2022-05-27 Battery processing comprehensive equipment

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN202221330984.6U CN217719707U (en) 2022-05-27 2022-05-27 Battery processing comprehensive equipment

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CN217719707U true CN217719707U (en) 2022-11-01

Family

ID=83795529

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CN202221330984.6U Active CN217719707U (en) 2022-05-27 2022-05-27 Battery processing comprehensive equipment

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CN (1) CN217719707U (en)

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
CN103078146B (en) What after storage battery cast-welding, automatic short-circuit detected enters slot device and method
CN201773892U (en) Lithium ion battery pole group reshaping and detection device
CN205404764U (en) Group battery measuring device
CN218824441U (en) Battery testing mechanism
CN110133427B (en) Lithium cell electricity core short circuit detection device
CN203134914U (en) Tank filling device capable of realizing automatic short circuit detection after cast welding of storage battery
CN105655648B (en) A kind of cylindrical battery automatic slot rolling machine
CN217719707U (en) Battery processing comprehensive equipment
CN212780921U (en) Device capable of conveniently measuring electric conductivity of cable in production process
CN201072784Y (en) Battery fixture clamper
CN211206740U (en) Battery cell internal resistance testing tool
CN114843573A (en) Battery processing comprehensive tool
CN212321803U (en) Intelligent battery pack offline detection equipment and battery pack production line
CN216607622U (en) Battery welding device
CN201821357U (en) Simple power supply clamp for testing mobile phone
CN211528653U (en) Lithium battery short circuit testing device
CN207741722U (en) A kind of length detection mechanism
CN209070085U (en) A kind of battery open circuit voltage test device
CN109500142B (en) Detection system with tab shaping function and workflow
CN2765706Y (en) Copper hook welding distortion controller of spot welder
CN221125892U (en) Device for testing insulation performance of frameless component
CN204204656U (en) The shaping checkout gear of capacitor pole group
CN213903745U (en) Lamination platform device with short circuit test structure
CN216575952U (en) Pole lug welding device
CN216978265U (en) Airtight testing arrangement of high-voltage heavy current connector

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
GR01 Patent grant
GR01 Patent grant