JP2003344020A - Inspection method for baglike separator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inspection method for a baglike separator in which a nonconformity of the baglike separator built in a battery is discriminated, and in which the battery is manufactured stably by creating an electrode group by the baglike separator having no nonconformity. <P>SOLUTION: In the inspection method for the baglike separator, a plate of the battery is sandwiched between rectangular doubly folded sheetlike separators, the baglike separator both sides of which are bonded by a gear sealing operation is optically photographed so as to be image-processed, windows are formed near four corners of the baglike separator based on an image- processed screen, the four corners of the baglike separator are captured and detected based on images inside the windows, the distances between four detected captured points are measured, the distance (width) between the up-down part and that between the right-left part of the baglike separator are measured, the distances (widths of a bonding part) between a captured point on the inner side of the bonding part by the gear sealing and captured points at the corners are measured, each of respective values is compared with a previously stored specification value, and whether the baglike separator is accepted or not is decided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inspection method for inspecting a bag-shaped separator incorporated in a battery for defects.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Polyolefin bag-shaped separators generally used in lead-acid batteries are manufactured by the manufacturing method shown in FIG.

That is, in the method for manufacturing the bag-shaped separator 1 made of polyolefin shown in FIG. 2, a sheet-shaped separator 5 is cut into a certain length as shown in FIG. Fold it in half at the boundary and it is shown in Figure 2 (B).
2C, one side surface 5a and the other side surface 5b are overlapped so as to surround the electrode plate (positive electrode plate or negative electrode plate) 6 as shown in FIG. This is a method in which both side parts that have been overlapped are joined by an automatic joining device to be processed into a bag shape, and the electrode plate 6 is housed in a bag-shaped separator.

As another manufacturing method, the sheet-shaped separator 5 is cut into a certain length, and
This is folded in two with the center as a boundary, and one side surface 5a and the other side surface 5b are overlapped and joined by an automatic joining device to be processed into a bag shape, and the electrode plate is placed in the bag-shaped separator. This is a method of housing an electrode plate (a positive electrode plate or a negative electrode plate) in a group assembling process.

The bag-shaped separator 1 containing the thus prepared electrode plate (positive electrode plate or negative electrode plate) 6 and the counter electrode plate (negative electrode plate or positive electrode plate) are sequentially laminated to assemble an electrode plate group. The width t of the joint is usually about 6 mm.

[0006]

By the way, in the above manufacturing method, during the process of folding the sheet-shaped separator 5 in two, it is folded in two as shown in FIG. One side surface 5a is the other side surface 5
The sheet-like separator 5 may not be bent at the center as shown in FIG. 9B, or may be displaced so that the lengths of the upper and lower sheets are staggered. Yes, both sides of the separator are joined as they are with the automatic joining equipment in such a state of deviation and sent to the electrode plate assembly process of the next step, and the defective bag-shaped separator is assembled as an electrode plate group. It may end up.

In the process of assembling the electrode plate group, the quality of the bag-shaped separator is visually inspected, but the visual inspection is not reliable, and the defective bag-shaped separator is directly used as the bag-shaped separator of the electrode plate group. It is often used and often incorporated into batteries.

As shown in FIG. 9A, when one side surface 5a folded in half and the other side surface 5b are deviated so as to incline, even if both side portions are joined by an automatic joining device, actually. 9C is only a portion shown by a striped pattern, and as shown in FIG. 9D, one side surface 5a is joined.
9D is shifted in the length direction with respect to the edge of the other side surface 5b, even if both sides are joined by an automatic joining device, the area actually joined is shown in FIG. 9D. Only the part indicated by the striped pattern, and in any case, the actual bonding area is narrower than in the normal case, the bonding strength and the storage stability of the electrode plate are insufficient, and such a defective bag-shaped separator 1 remains as it is. When it is used as a separator of an electrode plate group and incorporated in a battery, the electrode plate in the separator is exposed and may come into contact with electrode plates of other polarities, causing an internal short circuit.

The present applicant has previously proposed an inspection method using an optical fiber that eliminates the bag-shaped separator having such a manufacturing defect (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-215870).
However, the present invention provides a method for inspecting a bag-shaped separator by image processing, which is a step further than the above method.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a bag-shaped separator formed by sandwiching a battery electrode plate with two rectangular sheet-shaped separators and joining both sides thereof is optically provided. Images are taken and image processed, windows are provided near the four corners of the bag-shaped separator from the image processing screen, four corners of the bag-shaped separator are captured and detected by the image in the window, and the four detected captures are performed. By measuring the distance between the points, you can measure the distance (width) up, down, left and right of the bag-shaped separator,
In addition, the distance between the capture point inside the joint and the capture point at the corner (width of the joint) is measured, and each measured value is compared with the standard value stored in advance to check whether the bag-shaped separator is acceptable or not. A method for inspecting a bag-shaped separator, which is characterized by making a determination.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the electrode plate of the battery is sandwiched between two rectangular sheet-shaped separators, and the bag-shaped separator formed by joining both sides is optically photographed and image-processed. , At least 4 of arbitrary positions facing up, down, left and right in the vicinity of the center of the side surface of the bag-shaped separator from the image processing screen
A window is provided at each point, and at least four confronting points on the upper, lower, left, and right side surfaces of the bag-shaped separator are captured and detected by the image in the window, and the distance between these confronting capturing points is measured to determine the vertical direction of the bag-shaped separator. A standard in which the distance (width) on the left and right is measured, and the distance between the capture point inside the joint and the capture point on the side surface (width of the joint) is measured, and each measured value is stored in advance. It is a method for inspecting a bag-shaped separator, which is characterized by determining whether the bag-shaped separator is acceptable or not by comparing it with a value.

In the invention according to claim 3 of the present application, the electrode plate of the battery is sandwiched between two rectangular sheet-shaped separators, and the bag-shaped separator formed by joining both sides is optically photographed and image-processed. , A window is provided at one or several points at arbitrary positions in the vicinity of the four corners of the bag-shaped separator and in the vicinity of the center of the side surface of the bag-shaped separator from the image processing screen, and the bag-shaped image is displayed in the window. Separator 4
One corner, and each facing point on the side face are captured and detected, and the distance between the top, bottom, left, and right (width) of the bag-shaped separator is measured by measuring the distance between the detected capture points. Measure the distance (width of the joint) between the point and each capture point, and also measure the distance (width) between the opposing ends, and compare each measured value with the standard value stored in advance. A method for inspecting a bag-shaped separator, characterized by determining whether the bag-shaped separator is acceptable or not.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the inspection method according to the first to fourth aspects, the photographed image of the bag-shaped separator is made horizontal by at least one of the image processing screens. It is a method for inspecting a bag-shaped separator, characterized in that rotation correction is performed, each distance from each fixed point on the correction screen is measured, and whether the bag-shaped separator is accepted or rejected is compared with a standard value.

The present invention optically measures the shape of a joined bag-like separator incorporated in a battery and processes the measurement result image to detect defects in the shape. The inspection step is a battery manufacturing step. The inspection can be performed quickly and accurately, the complexity of the inspection process is eliminated, and the productivity is improved.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the manufacturing process of the bag-shaped separator 1, as shown in FIG. 2, a rectangular sheet-shaped separator 5 cut into a certain length is used as a boundary to surround the electrode plate (positive electrode plate or negative electrode plate) 6 at its central portion. It is folded in two and one side surface 5a and the other side surface 5b are superposed, and the superposed one side surface 5a
Both sides of the side surface 5b and the other side surface 5b are joined by an automatic joining device, in the present invention, by a gear seal method in which two meshing gears are passed and joined to form a bag-shaped separator.

The bag-shaped separator 1 to be inspected thus produced is inspected by the inspection method of the present invention incorporated in the production line of the bag-shaped separator 1.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which the inspection method of the present invention is incorporated in a production line for a bag-shaped separator 1. The bag-shaped separator 1 covered with an electrode plate is inspected by an conveyor 11 from an envelope 11. It is transported to 20.

The inspection device 20 includes a lighting device 21 and a camera 2.
2, a sensor 23, an image processing device 24, and a monitor 25. In addition, 26 is a power supply for illumination.

In the illustrated embodiment, the bag-shaped separator 1 to be inspected is placed on the conveyor belt 12 and conveyed from right to left in the drawing so as to pass across the inspection device 20. When the bag-shaped separator 1 crosses the inspection device 20, the sensor 23 first detects the forward end (left end) of the bag-shaped separator 1 in the traveling direction. The detection is performed by blocking the illumination by the tip of the bag-shaped separator 1. When the sensor 23 detects the bag-shaped separator 1, the image processing device 24 outputs a trigger signal to the camera 22 and the illumination power supply 26. Lighting power supply 26
Receives the trigger signal and turns on the illumination 21 to illuminate the bag-shaped separator 1. The camera 22 captures the image of the bag-shaped separator 1 and sends the image to the image processing device 24. The image processing device 24 performs a binarization process on the received video, sends the image to the monitor 25, and the monitor 25 projects it as a video.

FIG. 3 shows a binarized image of the bag-shaped separator 1. In the image on the monitor 25 screen, for example, the bag-shaped separator 1 is shown in white, and the left and right gear seal portions 2 and the background are shown in black.

The image on the monitor 25 screen which has been binarized in this way is subjected to image processing as follows.

Measurement is performed by providing windows at the four corners 32, 33, 34, 35 of the bag-shaped separator 1 of the image of the bag-shaped separator 1 projected. First, one of the windows is selected and the image is rotated so that the upper or lower side of the bag-shaped separator 1 becomes horizontal.

Next, the points at the four corners are captured. The capturing is performed by capturing the changing point between the white pixel showing the bag-shaped separator 1 and the background black pixel. Distances between the four trapping points 32, 33, 34, 35 of the trapped bag-shaped separator, that is, 32-33, 33-34, 34-35, 35.
The distance (length and width) of -32 is measured, and each of the measured values is compared with the standard value stored in advance, and the bag-shaped separator 1
It is judged whether the length and width of the top, bottom, left and right of the

FIG. 4 shows an example in which the upper side of the bag-shaped separator 1 has an abnormality. In this way, when the sheets are misaligned between the front and back in the length direction of the bag-shaped separator 1, when the white pixels that show the outline of the bag-shaped separator and the black pixels of the background change, that is, on the right side of the image. The apex captures the intersection 43 of the white and black pixels on the right side and the intersection 43 of the upper side, and the apex on the left side of the image is the intersection 42 of the white and black pixels on the left side and the intersection 42 of the upper side. To capture and measure. Therefore, the distance (width) between the points 42 and 43 becomes longer than the normal one, the difference in comparison with the standard value becomes large, and it is determined as defective.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the inside extension line 37L of the right gear seal portion 2 and the upper contact 37 and the lower contact 38 at the intersections which turn into black pixels in the background are captured, and the capture point 3 is obtained.
The distance between the capture points 33 and 34 at the corners corresponding to 7 and 38, the inner extension line 36L of the left gear seal portion 2 and the upper contact point 36 and the lower contact point 39 at the intersections that turn into black pixels on the background are captured, Capture points 32, 3 at the corners corresponding to capture points 36, 39
The distance (width of the joint) between the five is measured, and each measured value is compared with a standard value stored in advance to determine whether the width of the gear-sealed joint of the bag-shaped separator is acceptable or not.

As described above, the pass / fail of the bag-shaped separator 1 is determined by measuring the length of the bag-shaped separator 1 and the width of the gear-sealed joint.

In the above embodiment, an example in which the vertical and horizontal lengths and the widths of the gear seals 2 at the four corners are measured and compared with the standard values has been described, but the measurement detects an abnormality of the bag-shaped separator 1. Therefore, the measurement point can be optionally omitted.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
Face the top and bottom of the projected image of the bag-shaped separator 2
Two points 52 and 54 facing the points 51 and 53 to the left and right are selected, and windows are provided there to perform measurement. In FIG. 5, a window is provided substantially at the center of each side. In the measurement, first, one of the windows is selected and the image is rotated so that the upper side or the lower side of the bag-shaped separator becomes horizontal.

Next, the four points 51, 52, 53, 54
Capture. The capturing is performed by drawing a horizontal line 56L parallel to the horizontal side subjected to horizontal image processing and a vertical line 57L intersecting the horizontal line 56L at a right angle, and each line is a bag-shaped separator 1.
4 points 51 that turn into white pixels in the background and black pixels in the background,
52, 53, 54 are captured and detected. The distance between the four points of the captured bag-like separator, that is, 51-
The distance (width) of 53, 52-54 is measured, and each of the measured values is compared with a standard value stored in advance to determine whether the length or width of the bag-shaped separator 1 is acceptable.

Further, points 58, 59 inside the left and right gear seal portion 2 which intersect the horizontal line 56L are captured, and the points 58 are captured.
And the distance between the capture point 52 and the capture point 59 and the capture point 5
4 and the distance (joint width) are measured, and each of the measured values is compared with a standard value stored in advance to determine whether the gear seal of the bag-shaped separator is acceptable or not.

In this way, the pass / fail of the bag-shaped separator 1 is determined by measuring the length of the bag-shaped separator 1 and the width of the joint portion.

FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, this embodiment is an example in which the first and second embodiments are combined, and the measuring method is the same as the respective methods. Detailed description is omitted. By increasing the number of measurement points in this way, the pass / fail judgment of the bag-shaped separator can be performed more reliably.

Since the above-mentioned measurement (measurement) can be instantaneously measured by a computer, the conveyor belt 12 on which the bag-shaped separator 1 is placed judges pass / fail while the bag-shaped separator 1 is continuously conveyed. Outputs the result to a defective discharging device (not shown) at the end of the conveyor belt 12 to remove the defective one from the line.

FIG. 7 is a monitor image in which the length of the bag-shaped separator 1 is abnormal. The electrode is not located in the center of the sheet, and the bending of the sheet is displaced from the center. In this example, the value D of is larger than the standard value and it is determined as defective.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which the position of the gear seal 2 is biased to the right side, the measured value of the width of the joint portion is small on the right side, and greatly differs from the standard value on the left side, and it is judged as defective.

Next, the actual measurement results will be described. First, eight windows shown in FIG. 6 are provided on the monitor screen, and the standard value of the bag-shaped separator 1 is 118 mm in length, 118 mm in width, and 3.5 mm in width of the gear seal part.
The position inside the gear seal portion is set to 6.0 mm from the side surface and stored in the image processing apparatus. As a result of sequentially placing 100 bag-shaped separators satisfying this standard value on the conveyor and judging the quality by the monitor image, the image processing result is displayed together with the moving speed of the conveyor, and all the bag-shaped separators are passed. I made a decision. Next, as shown in FIG. 4, as a result of making and measuring 30 prototypes in which the bending of the sheet is shifted and the upper part is expanded, the spread is changed little by little, the distance (width) of the upper side is larger than the specified value, It was judged that all were defective.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the folding position of the sheet is shifted from the center, and 20 long-length prototypes,
As a result of making and measuring by changing the length little by little, it was judged that the distance (length) of the side was longer than the specified value, and all were judged to be defective.

Subsequently, the position of the gear seal portion 2 was shifted to the left and right as shown in FIG. 8, and inspection was performed on 30 prototype samples. As a result, it was judged that the width of the joint portion was different from the specified value, and it was rejected. It was

As described above, by utilizing the shape of the bag-shaped separator 1, the length, width, position and width of the gear seal are measured and compared with the standard value to judge the pass / fail, and the bag-shaped separator which has passed the test. Since only 1 is incorporated in the battery, the battery in which the abnormal (defective) electrode plate of the bag-shaped separator 1 is incorporated will not be shipped.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention, the defect of the bag-shaped separator incorporated in the battery is judged by the image processing. Therefore, the judgment can be carried out in a short time and the complexity of the manufacturing process can be eliminated. Has an excellent effect such as improvement in In addition, since the bag-shaped separator does not have a problem, there is no trouble after the bag-shaped separator is incorporated into the battery, and a battery of excellent quality can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a manufacturing process of the bag-shaped separator.

FIG. 3 is a monitor screen showing a state of the first image processing of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a monitor screen that has failed due to a difference in width.

FIG. 5 is a monitor screen showing a state of second image processing of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a monitor screen showing a state of third image processing of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a monitor screen that has failed due to a difference in length.

FIG. 8 is a monitor screen which has been rejected due to a shift of a gear seal.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which a bag-shaped separator has a problem.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 bag separator 2 Gear seal part 20 Inspection device 21 Lighting 22 camera 23 sensors 24 Image processing device 25 monitors

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 2F065 AA23 BB08 CC00 DD06 FF41                       PP15 QQ00 QQ04 QQ24 QQ36                       RR05 RR08 SS02 SS13 TT03                 2G051 AA90 AB10 CA04 DA06 EA11                       EA16 ED04 ED12 ED22                 5B057 AA01 BA02 CD03 CE12 DA03                       DB02 DB09 DC03 DC05 DC08                 5H021 BB04 BB11 BB20 CC18 HH03

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A bag-shaped separator formed by sandwiching an electrode plate of a battery between two rectangular folded sheet-shaped separators, and joining both sides thereof with each other by optically photographing and performing image processing, and from the image processing screen, the bag-shaped separator. Windows are provided in the vicinity of the four corners of the bag-shaped separator, four corners of the bag-shaped separator are captured and detected by the image in the window, and the distances between the four detected trapping points are measured to determine the vertical and horizontal directions of the bag-shaped separator. The width (width) of the joint is measured, and the distance between the capture point inside the joint and the capture point at the corner (width of the joint) is measured, and each measured value is stored in advance as a standard value. A method for inspecting a bag-shaped separator, characterized by determining whether the bag-shaped separator is acceptable or not. 2. A bag-shaped separator formed by sandwiching a polar plate of a battery between two rectangular folded sheet-shaped separators, and joining both sides of the separator, to optically image and image-process the bag-shaped separator. A window is provided at at least four points at arbitrary positions in the vicinity of the central portion of the side face of the bag-shaped separator, and at least four facing points on the top, bottom, left, and right sides of the bag-shaped separator are captured and detected by the image in the window, and the facing points are detected. By measuring the distance between the capture points, the distance (width) up, down, left and right of the bag-shaped separator is measured, and the distance between the capture points inside the joint and the capture points on the side surface (width of the joint) Is measured and each measured value is compared with a standard value stored in advance to determine whether the bag-shaped separator is acceptable or not. 3. A bag-shaped separator formed by sandwiching an electrode plate of a battery between two rectangular folded sheet-shaped separators and joining both sides thereof to optically photograph and image-process, and from the image-processing screen, the bag-shaped separator. The four corners of the bag-shaped separator and the four corners of the bag-shaped separator and the side surface of the bag-shaped separator are provided at one or several points at arbitrary positions facing each other vertically and horizontally near the center of the side surface of the bag-shaped separator. Capturing and detecting each facing point and measuring the distance between the detected trapping points to measure the distance (width) up, down, left, and right of the bag-shaped separator, and between the points inside the joint and each trapping point. Of the bag-shaped separator is measured by measuring the distance (width of the joint) and the distance (width) between the opposing ends, and comparing each measured value with the standard value stored in advance. Bag-shaped cell characterized by judging Inspection method of the regulator. 4. A bag-shaped separator is rotated by at least one of the image processing screens so as to be horizontal, each distance from each fixed point on each side is measured, and the bag is compared with a standard value. The method for inspecting a bag-shaped separator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pass / fail of the separator is determined.