JP2002141102A - Manufacturing method and manufacturing device for battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing method and a manufacturing device for a battery being optimum for sealing an opening part of a battery container and with high reliability by using a heat sealable sheet as the battery container also serving as an outer case. SOLUTION: A seal device in manufacturing of the battery is equipped with a chamber 1 housing a seal mechanism 10 for sealing the opening part by melting a work W which is the battery container and set in a specified pressure condition; an inlet side pressure replacing chamber 2 installed in an inlet part of the chamber 1, having an inner shutter 6 capable of opening and closing between the chamber and itself, and capable of changing almost the same low pressure condition as the inside of the chamber to the atmospheric pressure; and an outlet side pressure replacing chamber 3 installed in an outlet part of the chamber, having an inner shutter 7 capable of opening and closing between the chamber and itself, and capable of changing almost the same low pressure condition as the inside of the chamber 1 to the atmospheric pressure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a battery using a heat-fusible sheet, for example, an aluminum laminate film, as an exterior, which is a battery container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A secondary battery is basically formed by absorbing an aqueous electrolyte into a porous carrier material or gelling it and enclosing it in a metal can so that the carrier material does not flow. In order to manufacture such a secondary battery, a carrier substance is accommodated in a metal can, an electrolyte is injected, and then the opening of the metal can is closed with a lid. In the closing step, the lid is caulked to the metal can under atmospheric pressure, or is tightly fixed using welding means.

[0003] In recent years, with the expansion of so-called IT (information technology), many corresponding devices are required to be small and light. Therefore, the secondary battery as a power source of the device must be light, thin, and small.

[0004] After various trials and errors in battery production, it is necessary to consider whether it is possible to divert the technology of vacuum-packing food with a film often used in the food processing industry to battery production. Reached.

[0005]

In this case, it is appropriate to use a heat-fusible sheet, for example, an aluminum laminate film, as the battery container as the exterior. However, this naturally has low rigidity, It is easily deformed by a slight external force.

Therefore, caulking as in the case of a metal can, which is a current battery container, cannot be performed, and further, handling, separation work from an integrated state, or mutual positioning control techniques, etc. are applied as they are. It is not possible.

Further, when a carrier material is contained in an aluminum laminated film and an electrolyte is injected, there is a possibility that the carrier material or the electrolyte may contain gas, and the film is heated to seal the opening. It cannot be fused at atmospheric pressure like a metal can.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to use a heat-fusible sheet as a battery container as an exterior and seal an opening of the battery container. It is an object of the present invention to provide a battery manufacturing method and a manufacturing apparatus which are optimal and highly reliable.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a battery, wherein a carrier material is contained in a bag-shaped heat-fusible sheet having an open end. After accommodating the battery container into which the electrolytic solution has been injected into the inlet side pressure substitution chamber under atmospheric pressure, a pressure substitution step of setting the pressure substitution chamber to a predetermined pressure condition, and a battery container in the pressure substitution chamber A transfer step of transferring the battery into a chamber under a predetermined pressure condition, a sealing step of sealing an opening of the battery container transferred into the chamber, and a step of bringing the sealed battery container into a predetermined pressure condition. A transfer step of transferring the battery container to an outlet-side pressure replacement chamber; and a removing step of removing the battery container after transferring the battery container to the outlet-side pressure replacement chamber and then setting the replacement chamber to atmospheric pressure. It is characterized by the following.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a battery manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, in which a carrier substance is accommodated in a bag-shaped heat-fusible sheet having one end opened and an electrolyte is injected. A chamber which accommodates a sealing means for sealing the opening of the battery container, and which is provided with a predetermined pressure condition, and an internal shutter which is connected to the inlet of the chamber and which can be opened and closed between the chamber and the chamber. An inlet-side pressure displacement chamber that can be changed to the same pressure condition and atmospheric pressure as the inside, and an internal shutter that is connected to the outlet of the chamber and that can be opened and closed between the chamber and a pressure substantially the same as that of the chamber. An outlet side pressure substitution chamber which can be changed to conditions and atmospheric pressure is provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the battery manufacturing apparatus according to the second aspect, the sealing mechanism includes a pair of sealing tools disposed on both sides of the battery container in a back-to-back relationship, and the sealing tools are arranged in a direction facing each other. And a driving mechanism for moving.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the battery manufacturing apparatus according to the second aspect, when the sealing tool separates from the battery container after the sealing tool seals the battery container, the battery container is sandwiched from both sides. And a knockout for restricting the battery container from following the sticking tool while adhering to the sealing tool.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the battery manufacturing apparatus according to the second aspect, one of the sealing tools opposed to each other via the battery container has a sealing end formed in a planar cross section, and the other has the sealing end. Are formed in a semicircular cross section.

According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, by adopting means for solving such problems,
A work (battery container) can be taken in and out of the chamber, sealing can be performed while always maintaining the inside of the chamber at a predetermined pressure condition, and there is no time loss for creating a vacuum state, and high productivity is secured.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, even if the electrolyte adhering when the work is heat-sealed is evaporated, the electrolyte vapor adheres because no sealing mechanism or the like is provided in the upper part. And the state of the work can be seen from above.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, by providing the knockout, the sealed work does not adhere to the seal tool. According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in order to absorb an assembly error of the seal tool and facilitate the maintenance of the parallelism, one side of the seal tool is flat and the other side is R.
It is in the shape.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A carrier material is accommodated in a bag-shaped heat-fusible sheet having an open end, for example, an aluminum laminate film. The battery container is filled with an electrolyte.

The works are arranged in a line with a narrow gap in a dedicated carrier with the opening end facing upward, and the opening of the work is sealed by a sealing device described below.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a sealing device. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a chamber which is a device main body.
Pressure substitution chambers 2 and 3 are provided on both longitudinal sides of the chamber 1.
Are connected. Here, the pressure displacement chamber 2 on the right side in the figure is shown.
Is the inlet side, and the pressure substitution chamber 3 on the left side in the figure is the outlet side.

Each of the pressure displacement chambers 2 and 3 is provided with an inlet-side shutter 4 or an outlet-side shutter 5 communicating with the outside.
Can be freely communicated through the internal shutters 6 and 7.

A pressure reducing mechanism (not shown) is connected to each of the pressure displacement chambers 2 and 3, and the inlet side shutter 4 and the internal shutter 6 between the pressure displacement chamber 2 and the chamber 1 are closed. The inside can be set to a predetermined low pressure condition. When the inlet shutter 4 is opened, the pressure naturally changes to the atmospheric pressure.

In the same manner, the pressure in the pressure substitution chamber 3 in the pressure substitution chamber 3 under the predetermined low pressure condition with the exit shutter 5 and the internal shutter 7 between the pressure substitution chamber 3 and the chamber 1 closed. Can be. When the outlet shutter 5 is opened, the pressure naturally changes to the atmospheric pressure.

The inside of the chamber 1 is always maintained at a predetermined low pressure condition, and the dedicated carrier 8 for supporting a work is transported by a transport mechanism, which will not be described in detail. This transport mechanism repeatedly performs an operation of stopping after transporting the dedicated carrier 8 for a predetermined distance.

In the chamber 1, a plurality of sealing mechanisms 10 (sealing means) are arranged so as to face the respective stop positions of the dedicated carrier 8. FIGS. 2A and 2B and FIGS. 3A and 3B show a part of the seal mechanism 10.
Note that a series of sealing operations by the sealing mechanism 10 are shown from FIG. 2A to FIG. 3B in order.

As the seal mechanism 10, a plurality of push-up tools 11 are arranged in a straight line at a predetermined interval, and are connected to the same drive source so as to be simultaneously driven up and down. These push-up tools 11 are used to hold the work W in the dedicated carrier 8 from the lower end side of the recess 1.
1a.

The arrangement pitch of the push-up tools 11 is set to be the same as the pitch of a plurality of works W on the dedicated carrier 8. From this, thrust tool 1
1 are simultaneously driven upward, so that the dedicated carrier 8 is driven.
The plurality of works W in the inside are hung on the concave portion 11a.

A first seal tool 12 and a second seal tool 13 constituting the seal mechanism 10 at the highest position of the push-up tool 11 and opposed to the upper end of the work W hooked on the recess 11a. And a drive mechanism 14 for moving the first and second seal tools 12 and 13 is provided.

The first seal tool 12 has a seal end a provided at the lower end thereof formed in a plane, and the second seal tool 13 has a seal end b provided at the lower end thereof having a semicircular cross section. It is formed in a shape. The sealing ends a and b of the sealing tools 12 and 13 project so as to face each other.

Each of the sealing tools 12 and 13 has a built-in heater 15 and a thermocouple 16 for controlling a heating temperature. Furthermore, each sealing tool 1
A rotatable cam follower 18 is provided at the upper end of the pair 2 and 13 via a heat insulating material 17, and is supported by a guide body (not shown) so as to be movable in the horizontal direction.

The protruding direction of the seal ends a and b is so-called back-to-back between the respective seal tools 12 and 13.
A rectilinear cam 20 constituting the drive mechanism 14 is interposed. That is, the drive mechanism 14 is not provided at a position above the first and second seal tools 12 and 13 where the seal ends a and b face each other.

Each straight cam 20 has a chamber 1
An externally disposed cylinder 21 is mechanically connected, and cam followers 18 provided on each of the sealing tools 12 and 13 are in rolling contact with both side surfaces thereof.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration and structure of the straight cam 20;
The relationship of the cam follower 18 that rolls on the straight cam is shown in plan view. The rectilinear cam 20 has a base end 20a on both side surfaces parallel to each other, and a distal end 20b formed sharply at the same inclination angle. The cam followers 18 are in rolling contact with one straight cam 20 from both sides.

That is, each of the sealing tools 12,
One end of a tension spring (not shown) is hooked at 13, and elastically pulls and biases the cam follower 18 so as to come into contact with the rectilinear cam 20.

As shown by the solid line in the figure, when the cam followers 18 are in rolling contact with the inclined surface of the tip portion 20b of the rectilinear cam 20 from both sides, the first sealing tool in which the protruding directions of the seal ends a and b are back to back. 12 and the second sealing tool 13 are close to each other. In other words, the first and second sealing tools 12 and 13 having the opposed sealing ends a and b are separated from each other.

As shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.
By moving the seal tool horizontally,
The rolling contact position of the cam follower 18 is moved from the distal end portion 20b to the proximal end portion 20a against the elastic force of the extension spring hooked on the cam 13.

In this state, the cam follower 18 moves by the same amount, and the first and second sealing tools 12 and 13 in which the protruding directions of the sealing ends a and b are back to back are opposed to each other. 1, second sealing tool 12, 13
Are designed so that the seal ends a and b of the first and second seals are in contact with each other.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 again, a knockout pair 22 is arranged below the opposing first and second sealing tools 12 and 13. Each knockout pair 22 is configured to be driven so as to freely contact and separate from each other, and may be connected to the rectilinear cam 20 via some connection mechanism as a drive source, or a separate drive source may be prepared. Good.

As described above, the battery manufacturing apparatus having the plurality of sealing mechanisms 10 in the chamber 1 seals the opening of the work W by the method described below.

First, the entrance side shutter 4 is opened to accommodate the work W supported by the dedicated carrier 8 in the entrance side pressure substitution chamber 2. At this time, the internal shutter 6 between the inlet side replacement chamber 2 and the chamber 1 is closed, and the inside of the chamber 1 is maintained at a predetermined low pressure condition.

The workpiece W is accommodated in the inlet side pressure replacement chamber 2, the inlet side shutter 4 is closed, and the pressure reducing mechanism communicating with the replacement chamber 2 is operated to make the inside of the replacement chamber 2 substantially the same as the chamber 1. A pressure replacement step is performed to control to a low pressure condition.

After confirming that the pressure in the inlet side pressure substitution chamber 2 has become almost the same low pressure as the chamber 1, the internal shutter 6
Is released to transfer the dedicated carrier 8 into the chamber 1.

In the transfer step, the entrance side shutter 4 is opened with a delay in timing, the exclusive carrier 8 supporting the next work W is accommodated in the entrance side pressure substitution chamber 2, and the pressure substitution step is performed as described above. None, a transfer step for taking in the chamber 1 is performed. In the inlet-side pressure displacement chamber 2, the same operation is repeated.

In the chamber 1, a sealing step is performed. That is, the dedicated carrier 8 that supports the work W is transported at a predetermined speed by the operation of the transport mechanism, and stops at a certain timing to position the work W.

When the dedicated carrier 8 stops, it faces the first seal mechanism 10. The sealing mechanism 10 operates as described below. As shown in FIG. 2 (A), the push-up tool 11 faces the workpiece W every predetermined number, and rises at the timing of stopping the dedicated carrier 8. At this time, the cam follower 18 integral with the first and second seal tools 12 and 13 is elastically in contact with the inclined surface of the distal end portion 20b of the rectilinear cam 20 as shown by the solid line in FIG. Therefore, the opposing first and second sealing tools 12,
Reference numeral 13 denotes a state where the seal ends a and b are separated from each other, and the knockout pair 22 is also separated.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2 (B), the lifting tools 11 are simultaneously driven upward, and the workpiece W is hooked and lifted in the recesses 11a. When the push-up tool 11 rises to a predetermined position, the first and second seal tools 12 and 13 whose upper ends where the work W is open face each other.
Is located between the seal ends a and b of the seal.

Next, the drive mechanism 14 drives the rectilinear cam 20 rectilinearly to move it to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG.
Then, the cam followers 18 on both sides move from the inclined surface of the distal end portion 20b of the rectilinear cam 20 to the side surface of the base end portion 20a.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the first and second seal tools 12 and 13 integrated with the cam follower 18 move, and the opposing seal ends a and b move through the upper end of the work W. Abut each other.

Since the heater section 15 is constantly generating heat and the sealing tools 12 and 13 are at a high temperature, the heating is performed with the sealing ends a and b of the sealing tools 12 and 13 sandwiching the upper end of the work W. Therefore, the sandwiched portion of the work W is fused and the opening is sealed.

In addition, when the work W is heated at this time, the electrolytic droplet adhering to the inner surface may evaporate and rise before the opening is sealed. However, a driving mechanism 1 is provided above each work W.
Since no components of the seal mechanism 10 including the component 4 are provided, the electrolyte vapor does not rise as it is and does not adhere to the components. Moreover, there is an advantage that the sealing state of the work W can be visually observed from above.

The knockout pair 22 is the seal tool 12,
13, the upper part of the work W may be pinched from both sides, or the movement timing of the knockout pair 22 may be delayed.

After maintaining the sandwiched state of the seal ends a and b against the work W for a predetermined time, the rectilinear cam 20 is driven backward again to move the cam follower 18 to the inclined surface of the tip end portion 20b.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the seal ends a and b of the first and second seal tools 12 and 13 facing each other are separated from each other. The knockout pair 22 must hold the work W from both sides at least immediately before the first and second seal tools 12, 13 start moving.

That is, the knockout pair 22 is the work W
, The workpiece W is prevented from moving even if the workpiece W is attached to any of the seal tools 12 and 13.

In this manner, the sealing of the workpiece W is completed. However, depending on the setting conditions, the push-up tool 11 is raised one more step and stopped, and then the straight cam 2 is moved.
The work W may be sealed in two stages by the first and second seal tools 12 and 13 while moving straight through 0.

The first and second seal tools 12 and 13 facing each other have one (first) seal end a, b cross-sectional shape.
The second sealing tool is set to have a semicircular shape, and the other (the second sealing tool) is set to have a semicircular shape for the following reason.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the first and second sealing tools 12 and 13 facing each other are supported by a guide body (not shown) and move in parallel.
A cam follower 18 constituting the drive mechanism 14 is provided at the upper end of each of the sealing tools 12 and 13, and strictly speaking, it is unavoidable to move to some extent due to the problem of assembly accuracy.

The inclination angle is not constant, and the inclination direction is not constant. Therefore, for example, when the seal ends are formed in a flat shape, it is extremely difficult to completely and closely contact each other, and the seal reliability is low.
Further, for example, when the seal ends are formed in a semicircular cross section, the centers of the circles are shifted from each other depending on the inclination state, so that the work cannot be reliably clamped, and the reliability is also low.

Therefore, as described above, by forming the seal end a of one seal tool 12 into a planar cross section and forming the seal end b of the other seal tool 13 into a semicircular cross section, the two-dot chain line in FIG. As shown by, any part of the seal end b having a semicircular cross section surely comes into contact with a part of the seal end a having a planar cross section.

Even if the sealing tools 12 and 13 are inclined in any direction and the inclination angles are appropriately different, the contact portions are different because one is flat and the other is semicircular. However, the sealing effect is always guaranteed.

After such a sealing action is sealed every predetermined number of works W accommodated in one dedicated carrier 8, the transport mechanism is driven to transport the dedicated carrier 8,
It stops when it faces the seal mechanism 10 to be arranged next.

In the sealing mechanism 10, the work W located at a position adjacent to the work W first sealed is targeted.
The sealing action as described above is performed. The operation is completely the same and the same operation and effect can be obtained, so that a new description will be omitted with reference to the above description.

The dedicated carrier 8 is sequentially moved to the plurality of sets of the sealing mechanisms 10 and stopped, and a sealing action is performed during this time. A plurality of works W stored in one row in the dedicated carrier 8 are simultaneously sealed and shifted by a predetermined number so as to target adjacent works.

When the sealing operation of the seal mechanism 10 at the final position is completed, the sealing process for all the works W supported by the dedicated carrier 8 is completed. Before the exclusive carrier 8 faces the pressure substitution chamber 3 on the outlet side, with the internal shutter 7 between the substitution chamber 3 and the chamber 1 closed, the pressure reducing mechanism communicating with this substitution chamber is operated. , The inside of the replacement chamber 3 is set to the same low pressure as the inside of the chamber 1.

The exclusive carrier 8 is connected to the outlet side pressure substitution chamber 3.
When stopped at the previous position, the internal shutter 7 is opened to perform a transfer step in which the carrier 8 is transferred into the pressure displacement chamber 3. Since the replacement chamber 3 is already under the same low pressure condition as the chamber 1, even if the internal shutter 7 is opened, the chamber 1
Does not change.

After the dedicated carrier 8 is transferred into the outlet side pressure substitution chamber 3, the internal shutter 7 is closed and
The inside of the pressure substitution chamber 3 is returned to the atmospheric pressure. Then, a take-out step of taking out the dedicated carrier 8 by opening the shutter 5 on the exit side is performed. Thus, a series of sealing operations is completed.

The above-described seal mechanism 10 is configured to move the work with its position fixed, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a structure is adopted in which the work is fixed and the seal mechanism is sequentially moved to seal. There may be.

[0067]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a battery using a heat-fusible sheet as a battery container, and an effect of forming a highly reliable seal by adopting an optimum sealing process. To play.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a battery manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the embodiment and sequentially showing a sealing action on a workpiece.

FIG. 3 is a view showing the embodiment and further showing a sealing action on the work in order.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the operation of the main part of the seal mechanism, showing the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the form of the seal tool according to the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 W: Workpiece (battery container), 10: Seal mechanism (seal means), 1: Chamber, 2 ... Inlet side pressure replacement chamber, 3 ... Outlet side pressure replacement chamber, 12, 13 ... First and second seal tools, 14: drive mechanism, 22: knockout pair.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Tatsuya Nishi 33, Shinisogocho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside the Toshiba Production Technology Center Co., Ltd. (72) Masahiko Takahashi 33, Shinisogocho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Address: Toshiba Production Technology Center Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor: Shuichi Kimura 33, Shinisogo-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan Inside (72) Inventor: Hiroyuki Fujita Ukishima-cho, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-city, Kanagawa Prefecture No. 2 in the Toshiba Hamakawasaki Plant (72) Inventor Kenji Yazawa 2--24-1, Harumi-cho, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo Toshiba IT Control System Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5H028 AA01 AA07 BB01 BB15 BB17 CC02 HH09

Claims (5)

[Claims] After a carrier substance is accommodated in a bag-shaped heat-fusible sheet having one end opened and a battery container filled with an electrolyte is accommodated in an inlet side pressure substitution chamber under atmospheric pressure. A pressure replacement step of setting the pressure replacement chamber to a predetermined pressure condition; a transfer step of transferring the battery container in the pressure replacement chamber into a chamber under a predetermined pressure condition; A sealing step of sealing the opened portion of the battery container, a transfer step of transferring the sealed battery container to an outlet-side pressure replacement chamber under a predetermined pressure condition, and an outlet-side pressure replacement chamber of the battery container. Removing the battery container after the transfer into the replacement chamber by bringing the replacement chamber to atmospheric pressure. And a sealing means for sealing the opening of the battery container in which the carrier substance is accommodated in the bag-shaped heat-fusible sheet having one end opened and into which the electrolyte is injected, and which has a predetermined pressure. A chamber set to conditions, and an internal shutter that is connected to the inlet of the chamber and that can be opened and closed between the chamber and that can be changed to the same pressure conditions and atmospheric pressure as in the chamber, and that the pressure on the inlet side can be changed freely. A chamber, and an outlet-side pressure substitution chamber that is connected to the outlet of the chamber and has an internal shutter that can be opened and closed between the chamber and that can be changed to almost the same pressure conditions and atmospheric pressure as the chamber. An apparatus for manufacturing a battery, comprising: 3. The sealing mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a pair of sealing tools disposed on both sides of the battery container in a back-to-back relationship, and a driving mechanism for moving the sealing tools in directions facing each other. An apparatus for manufacturing a battery according to claim 2. 4. When the sealing tool separates from the battery container after the sealing tool seals the battery container, the battery container follows from the both sides of the sealing tool while being adhered to the sealing tool. 3. The battery manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a knockout for regulating the temperature is arranged. 5. One of the sealing tools facing each other via a battery container has a sealing end formed in a cross-sectional plane,
3. The battery manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the other end has a semicircular cross section.