EP1334527A1

EP1334527A1 - Sleeve separator and device for producing the same

Info

Publication number: EP1334527A1
Application number: EP01940292A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Daniel Dreyer; Jean-Luc Koch
Original assignee: Daramic LLC
Current assignee: Daramic LLC
Priority date: 2000-06-07
Filing date: 2001-04-05
Publication date: 2003-08-13
Also published as: JP2003536217A; DE10028084C1; US6933075B2; AU7392001A; KR20030014260A; WO2001095413A1; US20030162089A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a sleeve separator for a lead plate (2) of a lead-acid accumulator. The sleeve separator surrounds the front and rear sides and lower and bottom edges of said lead plate. The invention is characterised in that the separator material (6) on the top edge of the lead plate (2) and the sleeve is folded away from the lead plate on one side approximately at right angles, so that it projects sideways; in that the separator material (8) on the other, opposite sleeve side is also folded over the upper edge of the lead plate at right angles and also projects sideways from the side of the sleeve; and in that the two separator sections which project sideways at approximate right angles from the side of the sleeve and which are superimposed, are interconnected by a joint (7).

Description

Sleeve separator and device for its manufacture

The invention relates to a sleeve separator for encasing battery plates of a lead-acid accumulator and a device for producing such sleeve separators.

Battery separators are used in accumulators to prevent direct contact and thus short circuits between the electrode plates. The separators are made of porous acid and oxidation resistant materials, the pore size is selected so that it allows an ionic current to flow through the membrane, but prevents the passage of growths and particles that have detached from the battery plates.

A distinction is made between macroporous separators with an average pore diameter of approximately 10 to 30 μm and microporous separators with an average pore diameter of less than 1 μm. The risk of particles and growth penetration and thus the risk of short circuits is particularly small in microporous separators due to the smaller pore size. Lead accumulators equipped with microporous separators therefore usually have a longer service life.

Separators are generally used in the form of plug-in or sleeve separators. Plug-in separators are manufactured as piece goods and cut to the required height and width by the separator manufacturer. They are relatively stiff and are placed as such between the battery plates during battery manufacture. Sleeve separators are generally manufactured as rolls with the desired width and are cut to a specified length and shaped into sleeves only by the battery manufacturer in a fully automated process. This on sleeves closed on two sides are used to hold the battery plates.

The object of the invention is to provide a sleeve closed on two sides for a separator, which can be produced fully automatically and can be folded and closed directly around the battery plate. Another object of the invention is to provide a device for producing such a sleeve separator.

To solve the first-mentioned problem, a sleeve separator for a lead plate of a lead-acid accumulator is used, which surrounds the front and the back as well as the lower edge and the upper edge of the lead plate and which is characterized in that the separator material adheres to the upper edge of the lead plate and the sleeve one side protrudes laterally approximately at right angles away from the lead plate, that the separator material on the opposite other sleeve side is also folded perpendicularly over the upper edge of the lead plate and also protrudes laterally from the sleeve side, and that the two protrude laterally approximately at a right angle from the sleeve side and separator sections lying one above the other are connected to one another.

It is thereby achieved that the sleeve separator can be folded around a lead plate in a first step and closed in a second step along a laterally projecting longitudinal edge, for which purpose a fully automatic production machine can be used.

A device for producing sleeve separators for encasing battery plates of a lead-acid accumulator serves to solve the further problem,

with a turntable which can be rotated about a horizontal axis in steps of 90 ° and has four surfaces which each form the sides of a square, which are each provided in the area of their edges with activatable holding devices for holding the separator material, while in the middle area of each area there is a surface section which can be moved in towards the axis, with a lead plate feed device which feeds the lead plates to be encased laterally at about the height of the axis of the turntable , with a sliding device for inserting the lead plates fed to the turntable in the direction of the turntable axis while simultaneously moving the retractable central area of the associated surface in the direction of the turntable axis, with a first folding device for folding the separator material under and over the lead plate, while this is pushed by the slide into the turntable, with a second folding device, which folds the edges of the sleeve separator folded by the first folding device at right angles and laterally above the sleeve separator, with a closing device g for closing the sleeve edges folded by the second folding device, and with an ejection device for ejecting the closed sleeve separator containing the lead plate from the turntable.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to figures; show it:

Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a sleeve separator;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of a device for producing the sleeve separator from FIG. 1; and Figures 3 to 12, the individual phases of the manufacture of the sleeve separator according to the invention.

Figure 1 shows a schematic side view of a sleeve separator 1 for enclosing a lead plate 2 of a lead-acid battery, not shown. The sleeve separator has a front side 3 and a rear side 4, which are connected to one another at the lower edge of the lead plate 2 by a lower edge 5. The front side 3, the rear side 4 and the lower edge 5 of the sleeve separator 1 are produced from separator material and are connected to one another in one piece by folding a separator material web. Before it is closed by a seam 7, the sleeve separator 1 is open at its upper edge 6 in order to be able to insert the lead plate 2 from there. The side walls of the sleeve separator are open, so that the lead plate 2 can be seen from both sides, as shown in FIG.

An essential feature of the invention is that the front side 3 of the sleeve separator 1 is folded out approximately at right angles to the outside in the region of the upper edge 6 and thus forms a web 8 directed away from the lead plate 2 and the rear side 4. The upper end of the back 4 is folded in the same direction so that it covers the lead plate 2 and forms the upper edge 6. The upper edge 6 extends as far beyond the edge of the front side 3 folded over at right angles as is necessary for the formation of a seam 7 which reliably connects the front side 3 to the rear side 4.

In one embodiment, the seam 7 is formed by welding, in another embodiment by mechanical crimping.

The skilled worker is familiar with the creation of a welded connection. Depending on the separator material, a corresponding sealing bar is used, which softens the material against each other presses and solidifies while maintaining a suitable pressure.

A further possibility of reliably closing the sleeve separator 1 by means of a seam 7 consists in a connection by mechanical crimping, the web 8 projecting laterally from the front side 3 between two meshing gearwheels or a gearwheel meshing with a toothed rack or by two against one another pressed racks is manufactured. If a suitable tooth shape with a complementary counter-shape is selected and a pressure suitable for connecting the two separator sides is applied, the separator material is pressed together in the manner of a crimping process in such a way that a reliably closed seam 7 is produced. The gearwheels and / or toothed rack (s) are straight toothed in one embodiment, helical toothed in another, for example at an angle of 10 ° to 30 °, preferably 20 °.

FIG. 2 shows a device for producing an arm separator 1 according to FIG. 1 with a turntable 10 which can be rotated about a horizontal axis 11. The axis 11 is supported by a bearing 12 which is mounted on supports 13 of a frame 14. The turntable 10 has the shape of a drum with a square cross section and rounded corners, as can be clearly seen in the drawing. In the basic position of the turntable, its top and bottom are thus aligned horizontally, while the orientation of the side surfaces is vertical. When the turntable 10 is rotated by 90 ° in each case by a motor, not shown, which is arranged on the side of the axis 11 opposite the bearing 12, the side walls of the turntable 10 are always aligned either horizontally or vertically.

When looking at the drawing, one can see on the left side of the turntable 10 a schematically illustrated conveying device 16 for removing the finished sleeve separations. gates 1. On the opposite right side of the turntable 10, a sliding device 18 is mounted on a table 19, which is also part of the frame 14. A sliding table 20 is mounted on the table 19, which extends parallel to the axis 11 of the rotary table 10 and on which the lead plates 2 fed by a gripper 22 are placed, in order to be explained later by a slide 24 at right angles to the rotary table 10 to be pushed. The slide 24 is actuated by a cylinder 25, which is preferably a pneumatic cylinder.

A gripper 22 serving for feeding the lead plates 2 is carried by a sleeve 23 which is displaceable on a gallows 21 in the longitudinal direction of the gallows 21. For this purpose, the gallows 21 is arranged parallel to the turntable 10, as shown in Figure 2. However, a different orientation of the gallows is also possible, for example across the rotary table 10, which means no difficulty for the person skilled in the art. A vertical strut of the gallows 21 is therefore fastened vertically on the front of FIG. 2 on the table 19, while the opposite rear strut is fastened to the rear end of the frame 14 in a manner which is not shown but is known. A common way of attaching the gallows 21 to the frame 14 is the welding of these parts.

In the direction of view in FIG. 2, a plate conveyor 27 is arranged behind the table 19, which conveys the lead plates 2 from a stack of plates or another storage location to the rotary table, in order to be gripped there by the gripper 22 and transmitted to the sliding device 18. Seen in the transport direction of the lead plates 2, the plate conveyor 27 is therefore in front of the sliding table 20.. ^' ,

FIG. 2 also shows schematically a separator material roll 28, of which the separator material 8 is a continuous web

Rotary table 10 is supplied. The web material is fed in follows over a feed table 30, which is preceded by a guide roller 31. After the guide roller 31, the web material runs between a pair of rollers, of which the upper roller is a creasing body 33, which cooperates with a counter-pressure roller 34 and which serves to produce creasing lines in the web material of the separator, along which the sleeve separator 1 runs the turntable 10 can be folded. After passing through the creasing rollers 33, 34, the separator web material runs into the nip of a pair of conveyor rollers 36, which serves to feed the separator material 8 in a controlled manner to the surface of the turntable 10 that is at the top or in the 12 o'clock position.

At the end of the feed table 30 and thus in the immediate vicinity of the turntable 10, a cutting device 38 is provided, the upper knife of which is movable in a guillotine-like manner in a guided manner against a lower bar and thus cuts the separator web material 8 in accordance with the length of a battery plate 2.

In connection with the surface of the turntable 10 lying just above, a central region 40, holding devices 41 and folding devices 42 can also be seen, which are explained in more detail below. Furthermore, FIG. 2 shows a welding device 44 at the front end under the turntable 10 and in the vicinity of the bearing 12 for producing the seam 7 of the sleeve separator 1.

It is pointed out that the device shown in FIG. 2 is only drawn schematically, which is expressed in particular by the fact that no support structure for the separator material roll 28 is shown. However, it is clear to the person skilled in the art how the suspension of such a material roll and all other components that are not expressly shown in detail would be implemented. i

1

Operation of the device

The mode of operation of the device for producing sleeve separators 1 will now be explained in more detail with reference to several figures which show the individual steps of the manufacturing process. The illustration is schematic and, for reasons of clarity, dispenses with construction details. The same parts are otherwise provided with the same reference numerals and, if necessary, distinguished by apostrophes.

FIG. 3 shows, in the form of a schematic vertical section, the turntable 10 from FIG. 2 before the feeding of a separator material web section. The sliding table 20, on which a lead plate 2 already lies, is arranged to the right of the turntable 10. You can also see the slide 24, which can be moved back and forth by a piston rod 26 of the cylinder 25 in the direction of the axis 11. FIG. 3 also shows the holding devices 41 and the folding devices 42 open in the 12 o'clock position. Furthermore, the retractable central areas 40 of the side walls of the rotary table 10 can be seen, which are coupled to one another via connecting rods 46 such that two diametrically opposed central areas 40 only can be moved together. The movement of the central regions 40 takes place in guide slots 47 which intersect at the center of the turntable 10 and which ensure that whenever a first central region 40 is aligned with the surface of a side wall, the opposite central region 40 'in the slot 47 is withdrawn and thus allows the insertion of a lead plate 2.

Since in the following figures the same parts are provided with the same reference numerals, for reasons of clarity only those reference numerals are entered to which the respective description refers. FIG. 4 shows the turntable 10 after the separator material 8 has been fed and separated, the holding devices 41 having already pivoted their free ends in the direction of the arrows A over the separator material 8 and thus hold the latter on the turntable 10. The folding devices 42 are still retracted in this state and are flush with the top of the side wall, in exactly the same way as the central region 40. The welding device 44 is also shown schematically under the rotary table 10. In the next step, the turntable 10 is rotated clockwise 90 ° in the direction of arrow B to the 3 o'clock position.

FIG. 5 shows the turntable 10 rotated in the direction of arrow B into the 3 o'clock position, in which the separator material 8 is now held vertically on the side surface by the holding devices 41 while the folding devices 42 are not yet actuated. On the other hand, there is already a lateral feed movement for the lead plate 2 together with the sliding table 20 in the direction of arrow C. This movement is brought about by the extension of the piston rod 26 of the cylinder 25. In FIG. 5, the central region 40 is still in alignment with the side wall and thus in the guide slot 47 in the fully extended position. In this position of the turntable 10, a further piece of separator material 8 'can already be fed to the holding devices 41' which are still open.

In FIG. 6, the holding devices 41 'now at the top close in the direction of the arrows A in order to hold the new piece of separator material 8' on the rotary table. At the same time, the piston rod 26 of the cylinder 25 is fully extended in the direction of arrow C, so that the lead plate 2 pushed by the slide 24 on the sliding table 20 to the rotary table 10 just touches the separator material 8 somewhat below its center.

In the working step shown in FIG. 7, the holding devices 41 open in the direction of the arrows D, while the lead plate 2 is pushed into the guide slot 47 by the slide 24. The movable middle region 40 is pushed back in the guide slot 47, while at the same time the folding devices 42, which in one embodiment are two parallel bars with a circular cross section, are pivoted up out of the side wall of the rotary table 10 against the lead plate 2 in the direction of the arrows E. , As a result, they press the separator material 8 against the lead plate 2 and thereby form a sleeve.

FIG. 8 shows the lead plate 2 fully inserted into the guide slot 47 by the slider 24, which is already encased on three sides by the separator material 8 in this position. The central region 40 is completely inserted into the guide slot 47.

The next manufacturing step is shown in FIG. 9, the slide 24 being withdrawn in the direction of arrow C from the turntable 10, while a wall section 49 of the guide slot 47 is moved in the manner of a stamp in the direction of arrow F against the battery plate 2 and so that the back 4 of the separator material 8 presses against the lead plate 2. The holding devices 41 are still open, while the folding devices 42 have been pivoted back into the side wall in the direction of the arrows E '.

FIG. 10 shows the third position of the turntable 10, in which it has been rotated clockwise two times 90 ° with respect to its starting position and which corresponds to the 6 o'clock position. In this position, a further section of separator material 8 "is already fed in and held by the holding devices 41" on the horizontal side wall lying above. In the guide slot 47, the lead plate 2 with the separator material 8 folded like a pocket is pressed from the wall section 49 onto the inner wall of the guide slot 47 in the direction of arrow F in order to prevent the battery from falling out. to prevent plate 2 and the separator material 8. The edge of the front side 3 protruding slightly beyond the edge of the side wall is already folded at right angles, namely by the slide 24 in FIG. 8. However, the free edge of the rear side 4 of the sleeve separator still protrudes outwards. Now the welding device 44 is moved with its folding arm 45 against the turntable 10 in the direction of arrow G.

Figure 11 shows the welding device 44 moved against the turntable 10, the folding arm 45 of which has previously folded the free edge of the rear side 4 of the sleeve separator at right angles, so that a welding bar 48 mutually projects the two edges of the separator material 8 which protrude at right angles and in the figure to the left can press to form the seam 7 shown in Figure 1.

While the welding device 44 seals the sleeve separator in the 6 o'clock position of the turntable, in the 3 o'clock position according to FIG. 12 a further lead plate 2 "is inserted into the separator material 8" in order to close another sleeve separator 1 form. At the same time, the first finished sleeve separator 1 is in the 9 o'clock position with the wall section 49 moved back again in the direction of the arrow F '. In this position, the folding devices 42 are extended again and serve to support the sleeve separator 1 when it is ejected by the movable one Middle region 40 in the direction of arrow H, as a result of which the finished sleeve separator 1 with the lead plate 2 enclosed can be transferred to the conveying device 16. At this point, a further section of separator material 8 '' 'was already fed to the 12 o'clock position of the turntable 10 and clamped by the holding devices 41' ''.

It is pointed out that in the case of mechanical crimping of the seam 7 instead of the welding device 44, a folding and

Sealing device in the 6 o'clock ^{position of the} rotary table 10 would be watching. The crimping device, not shown, would again have a folding arm 45, but instead of the welding bar 48, a toothed rack or a gearwheel would have to be provided, which cooperates with a toothed rack inserted into the side wall of the rotary table 10 and presses the edges of the separator material 8. For this purpose, the rack would have to be arranged along that edge of the guide slots 47 which is opposite the movable wall section 49.

Claims

claims

1. sleeve separator for a lead plate (2) of a lead-acid battery, which surrounds the front and the back as well as the lower edge and the upper edge of the lead plate, characterized in that the separator material (6) on the upper edge of the lead plate (2) and the One side of the sleeve protrudes laterally at approximately a right angle from the lead plate, so that the separator material (8) on the opposite other side of the sleeve is also folded at right angles over the upper edge of the lead plate and also protrudes laterally from the side of the sleeve, and that the two are laterally approximately on the right Angle protruding from the sleeve side and one above the other are connected by a seam (7).

2. sleeve separator according to claim 1, characterized in that the laterally projecting Separato sections are connected by welding.

3. sleeve separator according to claim 1, characterized in that the laterally projecting separator sections are connected to one another by mechanical crimping.

4. Device for producing sleeve separators for encasing battery plates of a lead-acid accumulator, with a rotary table (10) which can be rotated about a horizontal axis (11) in steps of 90 ° and four surfaces each forming the sides of a square which are each provided in the area of their edges with activatable holding devices (41) for holding the separator material (8), while in the central area (40) of each area there is a surface section which can be retracted towards the axis (11), with a lead plate feed device (18) which laterally feeds the lead plates (2) to be encased at approximately the height of the axis of the turntable (10), with a sliding device (18) for inserting the lead plates (2) fed to the turntable (10) into Direction to the turntable axis with simultaneous movement of the retractable central area (40) of the associated surface in the direction of the turntable axis, with a first folding device (42) for folding the separator material (8) under and over the lead plate (2) while it is being pushed (24) is pushed into the turntable (10), with a second folding device (24, 45) which folds the edges of the sleeve separator (1) folded by the first folding device (42) at right angles and laterally above the sleeve separator, with a closing device for closing the sleeve edges folded by the second folding device, and with an ejection device for ejecting the closed and the Lead separator (2) containing sleeve separator (1) from the turntable (10).

5. The device according to claim 4, characterized by a cutting device (38) for separating pieces of separator material from a continuously fed separator material web.

6. The device according to claim 4, characterized in that the holding devices (41) for holding the separator material (8) are pivotable holding bracket.

7. The device according to claim 4, characterized in that the first folding devices (42) for folding the separator material (8) are folding brackets, which can be moved up and out of the plane of the rotary table surfaces in a controlled manner.

8. The device according to claim 4, characterized in that the sliding device (18) for inserting the lead plates supplied to the rotary table (2) has a sliding table (20) and at least one of a cylinder (25) actuated slide (24).

9. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that the sliding device (18) is arranged horizontally approximately at the level of the turntable axis next to the turntable (10).

10. The device according to claim 4, characterized in that the second folding device (45) is arranged under the rotary table (10).

11. The device according to claim 4, characterized in that the closing device (44) for closing the sleeve edges is arranged under the rotary table (10).

12. The apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that the ejection device for ejecting the sleeve separators (1) is arranged diametrically opposite from the sliding device (18) for inserting the lead plates (2) into the separator material (8).

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that the closing device (44) for closing the sleeve edges is a welding device.

14. The apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that the closing device (44) for closing the sleeve edges is a crimping device.