JP2000082488A - Lug part correcting method in manufacturing cylindrical storage battery and lug part correcting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To smoothly and continuously manufacture a storage battery by catching, in a press contact condition an elongated plate-like lug part led from an electrode plate, having one of the polarities out of an electrode plate group and extending upward in a pair of catching members from both sides in its thickness direction after a storage battery is assembled by receiving the wound electrode plate group in it. SOLUTION: By the downward movement of a traveling rod 3a of an elevating device of a correcting device, its pair of catching members 1a, 1b are lowered and inserted deeply, via a bent and tilted lug part 8 into both its sides down to it lower end, and lowered in a space 7c above a wound electrode plate group 7b, and a piston rod 5a of a driving device 5 is moved forward while maintaining that state. Thereby, the lug part 8 is instantaneous caught in a press contact condition by the pair of catching members 1a, 1b, so that it is corrected in a vertically erected form along press contact surfaces 1a1, 1b1 of the catching members 1a, 1b. Then when the traveling rod 3a is moved upwards with the lug part 8 kept caught in the press contact condition, the further correction of its upright condition can be made more stably.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for correcting an ear in the manufacture of a cylindrical storage battery.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In manufacturing a conventional cylindrical storage battery, after a rolled electrode group is accommodated in a cylindrical container, an insulating plate is placed on the upper surface of the rolled electrode group. There is a step of placing the pre-drilled through-hole in the slit-like through hole through the insertion of an elongated plate-like ear extending from the positive electrode of the wound electrode plate group, as shown in FIG. In the battery C obtained by housing the wound electrode group B in the bottomed cylindrical container A, the ear D is bent in one of the thickness directions and tilted. Before that, the ear D cannot be inserted into the slit-shaped through-hole F of the insulating plate E before the mounting process of the insulating plate, as shown in FIG.
The lower end of the vertically movable correction vertical plate is formed in a tapered shape G1 and the correction member G having a vertical contact surface G2 wider than the width of the ear portion is lowered, and the upper end of the ear portion D is tapered. While being brought into contact with the surface G1, the guide plate is guided to the vertical contact surface G2 of the vertical plate G, and the curved inclined ear D is pressed into contact with the vertical plate G so as to straighten it upright. Placement process.

[0003]

However, even if the inclined ear portion is straightened by the above-mentioned conventional straightening member, the ear portion has a spring property, so that the ear portion which has been subjected to the correction processing is not used. When the ear portion in the upright state is released from the straightening member, the ear portion is bent and inclined again in the original direction before the next insulating plate mounting process, so that it can be inserted in the insulating plate mounting process. Some of the corrections, that is, several percent of the corrected 100 slanted ears, were eliminated, and the inconvenience of lowering the efficiency of assembling the final cylindrical storage battery was inevitable. Further, in the conventional correction member, the ear portion curved and inclined in the direction opposite to the illustrated direction requires the work of reattaching the position of the correction member to the opposite side. An object of the present invention is to provide a method of correcting an ear portion and a device for correcting the ear portion, which can eliminate such inconveniences and enable smooth continuous production of a cylindrical storage battery.

[0004]

According to the present invention, a method of correcting a lug in the production of a cylindrical storage battery includes the steps of assembling a cylindrical alkaline storage battery by storing a wound electrode group housed in a cylindrical container; An elongated plate-shaped lug extending from one of the polar plates of the wound polar plate group and extending upward is pressed and clamped by a pair of clamping members from both sides in the thickness direction. In the above-described method of correcting the ear portion of the present invention, the pair of holding members are moved in the length direction of the ear portion while being pressed and held. The ear straightening device in the production of the cylindrical storage battery of the present invention is a pair of holding members connected to the lifting / lowering device and holding the ears from both sides in the thickness direction, and a reciprocating device for driving at least one of the plate members. And a movable drive device. Furthermore, in the straightening device of the present invention, the pair of holding members include a pair of plate members. Further, in the straightening device of the present invention, one of the pair of front and rear holding members is a plate type, and the other is a roller type. Further, in the straightening device of the present invention, the pair of holding members are vertically movable by a holding member connected to the lifting / lowering device, and at least one of the holding members is movable back and forth by the holding member. The device is characterized in that it can be freely moved toward and away from the ear by the device.

[0005]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention is mainly applied to a method for manufacturing a cylindrical alkaline storage battery. The manufacturing method generally uses a normal cylindrical can as a bottomed cylindrical container, and accommodates a wound electrode group in the can through an insulating plate having a center hole, which is usually located at the outermost periphery. The negative electrode to be brought into contact with the inner peripheral side surface of the can or the lead wire derived from the negative electrode is connected to the can, and the elongated plate-shaped lug derived from the positive electrode has a desired length above the opening surface of the can. It is extended and protruded, and placed on the upper surface of the electrode group while inserting the ears into slit-shaped through holes provided in the insulating plate for mounting the insulating plate on the upper surface of the electrode group. An annular groove is formed at the top of the can to form an annular step, and a metal lid plate having the upper end of the ear of the positive electrode connected to the back surface is placed on the step via an annular packing. At the same time, the upper end of the can is swaged and sealed, and a metal cap is welded to the upper surface of the metal lid plate, and this is used as a positive electrode terminal in a circle. To form a sealed alkaline storage battery.

In the manufacturing process of such a cylindrical storage battery,
According to the present invention, before the insertion step, according to the present invention, an elongated plate-like ear portion extending upward from the positive electrode of the wound electrode plate group accommodated in the metal can is reliably inserted into the through hole of the insulating plate. In this step, the lugs are pressed from both sides in the thickness direction of the plate. In that case, the upper part of the ear part that is curved and inclined in the thickness direction is corrected to the upright state by the pressing and holding, and the upright state is maintained even when the pressing and holding is released, Since it does not return to the curved and inclined state where the insertion of the insulating plate into the slit-shaped through hole is hindered, the next insulating plate mounting step can be performed smoothly. In this case, as will be described in detail below, it is possible to move up and down when moving in the length direction of the ear portion in the pressed and sandwiched state, and to secure a more stable upright state when making it hard.

[0007] The pressing of the ear portion is achieved by a pair of front and rear holding members for holding from both sides in the thickness direction of the ear portion and a reciprocating drive device for pressing at least one of the holding members from the outside. Is done. One example of the implementation is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B of the accompanying drawings, and other examples are shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.
FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b) show other examples.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a straightening device for carrying out the above-described method for correcting the ear portion of the present invention. In the drawing, the straightening device causes the ear portion to be clamped from front and rear in its thickness direction. A pair of plate-like holding members 1a and 1b wider than the width of the portion,
And it is provided so as to be able to move up and down by a lifting device 3 via a holding member 2. More specifically, the pair of holding members 1a, 1
b is a pressure contact surface 1a1, which faces both surfaces in the thickness direction of the ear portion.
1b1, preferably, downward inclined guide end surfaces 1a2, 1b2 for guiding the lower ends of the respective holding members 1a, 1b smoothly between the press contact surfaces 1a1, 1b1 formed of the vertical surfaces thereof. May be formed. In the illustrated example, one of the pair of front and rear holding members 1a and 1b is a lifting rod 3a of a lifting device 3 such as a piston cylinder fixed on an upper surface of a fixed platen 4 provided at a predetermined height.
Is suspended through a through hole 4a provided in the fixed platen 4, and is formed as a hanging plate member integrally formed at one end of the horizontal plate portion 2a of the holding member 2 connected to a lower end thereof. The other holding member 1b passes through a through hole 2b1 provided in a hanging plate portion 2b which is connected to the other end of the horizontal plate portion 2a by a bolt or a nut or by welding, and is horizontally welded or joined. The piston rod 5a, which is moved forward and backward by the drive of a driving device 5 such as a piston cylinder fixed, is integrally connected to the tip of the piston rod 5a by welding or a binding member, and is moved forward and backward in conjunction with the reciprocation of the piston. I was able to. Thus, the interval of the space S between the pair of holding members 1a and 1b is appropriately adjusted, the ear to be corrected faces the internal space S, and the driving device 5 is operated to operate the holding member. The correction device 1 is configured such that the member 1b is advanced, and the ear portion is pressed and held between the holding member 1a to correct the curved inclination of the ear portion to a vertical and straight upright posture.

[0009] The turntable 6 is located immediately below the correction device 1.
The cylindrical battery 7 to be processed placed on the transfer table 6 is positioned and stopped. More specifically, the position of the cylindrical battery 7 is such that a pair of sandwiching members 1a, 1b of the straightening device 1 above and below the opening on the upper surface of the cylindrical battery case 7a.
However, the hanging plate portion 2b holding the pressurizing device 5 is
So as to be outside the peripheral side wall 7a1 of the battery case 7a,
When the elevating rod 3a of the elevating device 3 is lowered, the pair of front and rear holding members 1 of the pressurizing device 5 that moves down accordingly.
a, 1b are drawn out of the positive electrode plate of the electrode plate group 7b into the space 7c above the wound electrode plate group 7b in the battery case 7a, and are elongated above the upper end of the battery case 7a. The tab-shaped ear 8 can be inserted to the lower end of the lead-out portion of the ear 8 in opposition to both side surfaces in the thickness direction. In this case, before lowering the width of the gap S between the opposing surfaces of the pair of sandwiching members 1a and 1b, the ear 8 is curved in the thickness direction in advance as the ear 8 reaches the upper end. 8 is wider than the maximum thickness in the thickness direction.

In this case, in the illustrated example, a holding member 1a on one side, which is located on the opposite side to the inclination direction of the ear portion 8 and on the left side in the drawing, slides on one side surface of the ear portion 8. The ear 8 is inserted in a state where it is supported from the rear surface, and is brought into contact with the front surface of the ear 8 by the advancing of the holding member 1b on the other side, on the right side in the drawing.

Thus, the downward movement of the lifting rod 3a of the lifting device 3 of the straightening device 1 causes the pair of holding members 1a, 1b to move.
1 is lowered as shown by a chain line in FIG. 1, and is inserted deeply to the lower end on both sides thereof through the curved and inclined ears 8, and is lowered into the space 7 c above the electrode plate group 7 b. By moving the piston rod 5a of the driving device 5 forward, the ear 8 is instantly pressed and held by the pair of holding members 1a and 1b.
Are the pressing surfaces 1a1, 1a1 of the opposing holding members 1a, 1b.
It is corrected to a vertically upright state along 1b1. As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to correct the upright state by press-clamping the inclined ears. Can be pressed and clamped to be straightened. Thus, if the lifting rod 3a is moved upward while the ear portion 8 is pressed and held by the pair of holding members 1a and 1b,
The correction of the upright state can be obtained more stably.

In this case, preferably, in a state in which the pair of holding members 1a and 1b are pressed and held on both sides of the ear portion 8, the length of the ear portion 8 is increased by the lifting rod 3a of the lifting device 3. Move to That is, at least 1 from bottom to top
Move it twice. Alternatively, the pair of holding members 1 are moved up and down at least once, and when pressed down, loosen the pressure contact state.
By sliding a and 1b in the longitudinal direction in a state of being pressed against both side surfaces of the ear portion 8, the upright state can be further maintained for a long time. Thus, when the pressing and holding is released, the spring resilience of the ear portion 8 is surely lost, so that the risk of returning to the inclined state again by the next step of mounting the insulating plate as in the related art can be solved. Ear correction is 100%
Bring the effect. It goes without saying that in the continuous manufacturing apparatus for assembling the storage battery, even when the ear portion 8 is in a vertical state from the beginning, the press-contact holding by the pair of holding members 1a and 1b is sequentially performed.

In the above correction process, it is preferable that the battery 7 to be subjected to the correction process is fixedly supported during the correction process. In the drawing, reference numerals 9 and 9 denote a positional relationship consisting of a pair of piston cylinders and the like disposed opposite to both sides of the cylindrical storage battery 7, and the position fixing devices 9 and 9 have respective piston rods 9a and 9a. And a pair of semicircular holding rods 9b, 9b attached to the ends thereof by welding or the like. A pair of semicircular holding rods at the ends of the pair of piston rods 9a, 9a advance as the pair of piston rods 9a, 9a advance. At 9b and 9b, the outer peripheral surface of the battery case 7a of the cylindrical storage battery 7 is held and fixed from both sides as shown in the figure. In the drawing, the battery 7 is attached to the upper surface of the rotating plate 6a in a state where the lower part thereof is fitted by a transfer jig 10 having a through hole 10a formed in the center of the bottom wall and protected from contact with outside. Push-up rod insertion hole 6a provided
2 shows a state in which the device is placed on the upper surface of the device.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the straightening device 1 according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the piston cylinder 5 and the other-side plate-shaped holding member 1b driven by the piston cylinder 5 are separately formed from each other. One end of a pair of left and right connecting rods 2c extending at right angles integrally from both ends in the width direction of the upper end of the plate-shaped holding member 1b is integrally protruded downward from the lower surface of the horizontal plate 2a of the holding member 2. Connecting pins 11, 1 are provided on both end surfaces of the intermediate holding member 2d.
1, when the holding plate portion 1b is not pushed by the piston rod 5a of the piston cylinder 5, as shown by a solid line.
Is pivoted downward from above from above and falls down, and is in an inoperative state in which there is a space S between itself and the holding member 1a on one side, but the piston rod 5a of the piston cylinder 5 moves forward as indicated by an imaginary line. When the holding member 1b is pushed from the outside, the holding member 1b pivots upward from below with the connection pin 11 as a center, and the curved inclined surface of the ear portion 8 as shown by a solid line is indicated by a virtual line. Finally, while correcting it to its upright state,
As shown by the imaginary line, the press-contact surface 1b1 presses against the ear portion 8, so that the ear portion 8 is pressed and held between the opposing one side of the holding member 1a, and the ear portion 8 stands upright. To correct. Preferably, in this state, if the piston rod 3a of the liftable device 3 is slightly moved up and down several times so that the lug 8 is slid along its length, the spring of the lug 8 can be moved. The uprightness of the lug 8 is sufficiently reduced, and the upright state is more stably ensured. Then, even when the cylinder rod 5a is retracted to release the pinching state, the ear 8 is maintained in the upright state forever.

FIG. 4 shows still another embodiment of the straightening device 1 of the present invention. In this embodiment, the one-side holding member 1a uses a plate-like member, but the other-side holding member 1b is a roller type having a circumferential surface as a pressure contact surface 1b1, and the roller-type holding member 1b is A vertical plate-shaped holding member 2e, which is integrally bonded to the tip of the piston rod 5a of the pressurizing device 5 by welding or the like, is disposed along the arc-shaped lower end surface;
The outer end portions of both ends of the center axis of the roller 1b are rotatably connected via holding members and the like by holding rods 12, 12 hanging from both ends of the holding member 2e.
b was suspended and held by the pair of left and right holding members 12 and 12. Thus, when the piston cylinder 5 is not operated, the roller-type holding member 1b is at the retracted position together with the piston cylinder 5 at the retracted position as shown by the solid line, and has a large space between the piston cylinder 5 and the one-side clamping member 1a. Although the piston rod 5a is in an inoperative state in the presence of S, the piston rod 5a is moved forward and the rotatable press-contact surface 1b1 of the roller-type holding member 1b at the tip thereof is connected to the ear portion as shown by an imaginary line. 8 is pressed against and sandwiched from both sides by a vertical pressing surface 1a1 of a holding member 1a which is brought into contact with the front surface of the lifting member 3 and supported by the rear surface thereof.
Is moved upward, the ear 8 in a curved and inclined state indicated by a chain line of the ear 8 is supported by a plate-like holding member 1a from the back, and the surface of the ear 8 is rolled in the length direction. By moving upward while rolling, the ear portion 8 is corrected to an upright state. In this case, it is more preferable because the roller can be moved up more smoothly by the rolling of the roller and can be held tighter than in the case where the holding is performed by the plate-shaped pressing member. Then, if desired, after once being moved upward, the holding is loosened, the piston rod 3a of the lifting / lowering device 3 is lowered to lower the holding members 1a, 1b, and the pressing and holding state is again set, and then the upward movement is performed. By performing up and down operation at least once,
The correction may be ensured in a more stable manner.

Thus, the desired straightening device 1 of the present invention is provided.
For example, after the correction device 1 shown in FIG. 4 has undergone the correction process (a) in which the curved and inclined ears 8 shown in the imaginary line are corrected to the upright state shown in the solid line, as shown by the arrow in FIG. The turntable 6 is rotated, and the cylindrical storage battery 7 having the upright ears 8 is shifted to the insulating plate mounting step (b), and the insulating plate applying device 1 holding the insulating plate E by suction with the suction cup 14a.
2, the insulating plate E is lowered by the elevating rod 12a, and is placed on the upper surface of the electrode plate group 7b while the upright ear 8 is inserted through the slit-shaped through hole F. Can be Next, the turntable 6 is rotated to move to a step of forming a stepped plate-shaped U-shaped groove on the upper part of the metal can of the battery. The battery 7 is lifted up to a predetermined position through 6a, an annular groove step is formed on the upper part of the peripheral side wall by an annular groove forming device, and then a sealed cylindrical alkaline Manufacture storage batteries.

In the above embodiment, only one of the pair of holding members is of a movable type capable of reciprocating back and forth.
Both of them may be of the reciprocating type. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the holding member 1a on one side is also provided at the tip of the piston rod 5a 'of the piston cylinder 5' similarly to the holding member 1b on the other side, and the piston cylinder 5 'is moved forward and backward to retreat. It is a movable type that moves forward and backward. The holding members 1a, 1
b may be either a plate type or a roller type,
One of them may be a plate type, and the other may be a roller type. In the illustrated embodiment, one of them is a plate type and the other is a roller type as in the case of FIG. That is,
The plate-like vertical holding members 2 are provided at both ends of the plate-like horizontal holding member 2a.
b 'and 2b are provided, and a piston cylinder 5' is laterally provided on one vertical plate member 2b 'as shown in FIG.
A roller-type holding member 1a is rotatably suspended and held along the lower end of a vertical holding plate 2e provided integrally at the tip, and the roller-type holding member 1a can be moved back and forth by the back and forth movement of a piston rod 5a '. On the other hand, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, the piston cylinder 5 is laterally provided on the other vertical plate member 2b, and a plate-like holding member 1b integrally formed of a vertical plate is provided at the tip of the piston rod 5a. The plate-shaped holding member 1b is provided to be able to move back and forth by the back and forth movement of the rod 5a. Thus, since both of the holding members 1a and 1b are movable, the position of the space S between the two holding members 1a and 1b, in other words, the different position in the radial direction of the ear to be corrected immediately below the holding members 1a and 1b. A space S of a desired size can be left between the holding members immediately above the space between them,
In addition, the roller-type holding members 1a, 1
b is moved upward from the lower part of the ear part 8 through the drive of the elevating device 3, or
By repeatedly tightening, the return of the elasticity of the ear portion 8 is eliminated, and a stable upright state can be secured.

As is apparent from the above description, it is needless to say that the object of the present invention is similarly achieved when the pair of holding members 1a and 1b are both roller-type holding members.

All the components of the straightening device 1 of the present invention are generally made of stainless steel or other desired metal material. As is clear from the above, the ear 8 to be corrected according to the present invention is generally connected to a positive electrode plate in a cylindrical storage battery, and the cap of the lid is generally used as a positive electrode terminal. Connect to the negative plate,
It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to a case where this is led out upward and the cap of the lid is used as the negative electrode terminal.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, an elongated plate-like shape extending upward from one polarity of a wound electrode group housed in a battery case of a cylindrical storage battery by a pair of sandwiching members. Since the ear portion is pressed and held, the ear portion inclined to one or the other in the thickness direction as it reaches the upper end can be straightened. Further, when the pair of holding members are moved in the length direction of the ear portion in a state where the ear portion is pressed and held, the stable upright state can be secured without returning to the original inclined state again. When the insulating plate is placed on the upper surface of the electrode plate group, the ears can be reliably inserted into the through holes provided in the insulating plate. In this case, it is possible to eliminate the case where the probability that the insertion becomes impossible is several percent, and it is possible to improve the efficiency of battery assembly work. Further, in the present invention, since the pair of holding members can be raised and lowered by the lifting device, the ear portions are moved in the length direction thereof while the ear portions are pressed and held from both sides, so that the vertical state is more stable and good. Ears can be secured. In addition, since both of the pair of holding members are configured to be reciprocally movable, even if the position of the ear portion is different, the ear portion can be pressed and held in accordance with the position.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a correction device for performing an ear correction method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of an operation state of the straightening device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view of an operation state of another embodiment of the straightening device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view of an operation state of still another embodiment of the straightening device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a straightening step and an insulating plate placing step by a straightening device according to an example of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a straightening device according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a relationship between a lug of a positive electrode plate of a wound electrode group of a cylindrical storage battery and a lug insertion through hole provided in an insulating plate provided on an upper surface of the electrode group.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing a conventional ear correcting means.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Straightening device 1a of the present invention 1a clamping member 1b clamping member 1a1 pressure contact surface of clamping member 1b1 pressure contact surface of clamping member 2 holding member 3 lifting device, piston cylinder 3a lifting rod 4 fixed plate 5 lifting device
Piston cylinder 5a Piston rod 5 'Lifting device, piston cylinder 5a' Piston rod 6 Rotating plate, transfer plate 7 Cylindrical battery 7a Battery case 7b Wound electrode group 8 Ears S Space

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Shuji Kida 23-6 Tsukubashimachi, Tokiwashita-cho, Iwaki-shi, Fukushima F-term in Furukawa Battery Co., Ltd. Iwaki Works 5H022 AA04 BB01 BB28 CC08 CC19 5H028 AA07 BB19 CC05 CC12

Claims (6)

[Claims] After assembling a cylindrical alkaline storage battery by housing a wound electrode group housed in a cylindrical container, it is drawn out from one polarity electrode plate of the wound electrode group and extends upward. A method for correcting ears in the manufacture of a cylindrical storage battery, characterized in that an elongated plate-shaped ear is pressed and held from both sides in the thickness direction by a pair of holding members. 2. The method of correcting an ear according to claim 1, wherein the pair of holding members are moved in the length direction of the ear while being pressed and held. 3. A reciprocating drive device which is connected to an elevating device and holds the lugs from both sides in the thickness direction, and a reciprocating drive device for driving at least one of the plate members. Ear correction device in the manufacture of cylindrical storage batteries. 4. The ear correction device according to claim 3, wherein the pair of holding members comprise a pair of plate members. 5. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein one of the pair of front and rear sandwiching members is a plate type, and the other is a roller type. 6. A pair of holding members, which are vertically movable by a holding member connected to an elevating device, and at least one of the holding members is moved by a reciprocating driving device held by the holding member. The ear correction device according to claim 3, wherein the ear portion can be freely moved toward and away from the portion.