JP2008257910A - Cutting device, and cutting method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cutting device and method capable of accurately and efficiently carrying out processing of cutting by making the cutting device automatically carry out positioning of a cutting height. <P>SOLUTION: The cutting device forms an opening part on the battery tank by cutting the top plate of a secondary battery formed by installing a plurality of terminals at the top plate part of the battery tank, and is equipped with a conveying means for conveying the secondary battery placed thereon, a work cutting part 30 for cutting the secondary battery in parallel with the conveying direction by a cutting blade directed toward the upstream side in the conveying direction of the secondary battery, a work height detection part 40 arranged and installed on the upstream side of the work cutting part 30 and detecting the height of the secondary battery, and an adjustment means for adjusting the cutting height by the work cutting part 30 according to the detection result of the work height detection part 40. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cutting device and a cutting method for cutting a wall portion of a surface on which a terminal is arranged in a secondary battery such as a lead storage battery together with the terminal.

Conventionally, for example, when a secondary battery used as an automobile battery, an industrial battery, or the like such as a lead-acid battery is recycled at the end of its life, lead or the like is put in a melting furnace after the secondary battery is crushed, and the like. There is a method for recovering the valuable elements. In this method, since the crushed electrode is kneaded with an electrolytic solution or the like, the electrode portion becomes a paste and the air permeability is lowered. Therefore, a technique of granulating in advance and then putting it into a melting furnace is disclosed ( For example, see Patent Document 1.)
On the other hand, a technique for taking out the electrolytic solution in the secondary battery and lowering the ionic conductivity between the positive electrode and the negative electrode and then opening the battery case of the secondary battery is disclosed (for example, patents). Reference 2).

  When the secondary battery, which has been crushed and pasted into a paste, is put in the melting furnace in advance by the method of pulverizing and collecting the secondary battery, the smelting equipment becomes large and the cost increases. There is a problem. Also, when the battery case is opened after the electrolyte solution in the secondary battery is taken out, it takes time to remove the electrolyte solution from the electrolyte replenishment port in order to take out the electrolyte solution from the battery case. There is a problem of requiring space.

  Therefore, there is a recovery method using a cutting device in which an opening is provided in the battery case of the secondary battery so that the electrolytic solution can be efficiently removed from the battery case, and the electrode and the battery case are separated and the battery case is also recycled. In this method, the surface (top plate) on which the terminals of the secondary battery are arranged is placed on the conveyor unit, and the wall portion of the top plate is formed by cutting blades arranged in parallel and horizontally with the top plate. Is cut and separated, and an opening is formed in the battery case to facilitate extraction of the electrolyte from the opening, and the terminals and electrodes are separated from the battery case and collected separately.

By the way, there exists what is called a shield battery in the said secondary battery. This is a structure in which the electrolytic solution is not stored in a liquid state but is disposed between the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate in a state where the electrolytic solution is soaked and held in a separator made of glass fiber or the like. With this structure, the shield battery has the advantage that there is no risk of liquid leakage and the degree of freedom of installation direction and location is high, and products of various shapes are manufactured according to the application.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-241769 JP-A-10-241748

  However, because the shield battery has a high degree of freedom in its shape, the outer diameter of the manufactured product varies depending on the application, and the surface of the battery case (the surface formed on the opposite side of the top plate) from the top plate surface. ) (Hereinafter abbreviated as “height”) also varies depending on the product. Therefore, when these shield batteries are cut and collected by the conventional cutting device, the cutting height must be set for each product again. In addition to these shielded batteries, the industrial battery and automobile battery also need to be sorted into products with almost the same height before being sent to the device. Improve processing capacity.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and cuts and separates the top plates of a plurality of secondary batteries having different heights from the top plate provided with a plurality of terminals to the bottom of the battery case. To provide a cutting apparatus and a cutting method capable of accurately and efficiently performing a cutting process as a configuration that allows the apparatus to automatically perform the positioning of the cutting height in the work without requiring the operator to individually set the cutting height. With the goal.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention proposes the following means. That is, the cutting device according to the present invention is a cutting device that cuts the top plate of a secondary battery in which a plurality of terminals are provided on the top plate portion of the battery case to form an opening in the battery case, A conveying means for placing and conveying the secondary battery, a workpiece cutting section for cutting the secondary battery in parallel with the conveying direction by a cutting blade facing upstream in the conveying direction of the secondary battery, and a workpiece cutting section A work height detection unit that is disposed upstream and detects the height of the secondary battery, and an adjustment that adjusts the cutting height of the work cutting unit according to the detection result of the work height detection unit. Means.
Further, the cutting method according to the present invention is a cutting method using the above-described cutting device, wherein the cutting height by the workpiece cutting unit is adjusted based on the detection result of the workpiece height detecting unit. Features. Note that the cutting height is the height obtained by subtracting the cutting width that can be set and changed before the operation of the apparatus from the workpiece height.

  According to the cutting apparatus and the cutting method according to the present invention, the apparatus automatically adjusts the cutting height of the secondary battery based on the detection result of the workpiece height detection unit that measures the height of the secondary battery by the adjusting means. Make adjustments. That is, it is not necessary for the operator to individually set the cutting height, and the top plate of the secondary battery can be accurately cut and separated regardless of the height of the secondary battery.

  In the cutting apparatus of the present invention, it may be provided with a feeding means for gripping the secondary battery at the time of cutting by the work cutting unit and transferring it to the downstream side, whereby the secondary battery is removed from the cutting blade at the time of cutting. It is possible to perform stable cutting by preventing an unstable state from being caused by an impact and causing a cutting failure.

  In the cutting apparatus according to the present invention, the transport means includes a first work transport section on the upstream side of the transport and a second work transport section on the downstream side, and the secondary battery is moved from the first work transport section to the first work transport section. (2) a transfer means for transferring to the workpiece conveying section, wherein the second workpiece conveying section is intermittently driven, and the detection of the workpiece height detecting section and the feeding of the feeding means are performed while the second workpiece conveying section is stopped. It is good also as providing the control part which controls to be displayed. Thereby, the transfer by the transfer means is efficiently performed, and the transfer from the first work transfer unit to the second work transfer unit can be reliably performed. And since the said 2nd workpiece conveyance part is intermittently driven, the detection of the said workpiece | work height detection part of the said secondary battery and the feed of the said feed means can be performed correctly.

  In the cutting device according to the present invention, the cutting blade may be arranged to be inclined with respect to the transport direction, and thereby the cutting blade performs cutting while contacting only one of the plurality of terminals. It is possible to prevent current from flowing between these terminals during sparking and to spark, and to safely cut the top plate. In addition, the life of the cutting blade can be extended.

  In the cutting apparatus according to the present invention, the adjusting means may be configured to be adjusted by vertical driving of the second workpiece transfer unit, and may be configured to be adjusted by vertical driving of the cutting blade. It is good to be. As a result, the apparatus automatically adjusts the cutting height of the secondary battery based on the detection result of the workpiece height detection unit, so that even if a plurality of secondary batteries having different heights are inserted, it is accurately and efficiently performed. Can be cut continuously.

  According to the cutting device and the cutting method according to the present invention, in the operation of cutting / separating the top plates of a plurality of secondary batteries having different heights from the top plate provided with a plurality of terminals to the bottom of the battery case, The cutting process can be performed accurately and efficiently as a configuration in which the apparatus automatically performs the positioning of the height without requiring the operator to set the height individually.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a secondary battery cut by the cutting device. In this embodiment, the secondary battery is a lead storage battery 60 such as a shield battery. The lead storage battery 60 includes a positive electrode plate 62P and a negative electrode plate 62M mainly composed of lead, a separator 63 impregnated with dilute sulfuric acid, and impregnation with the positive electrode plate 62P, the negative electrode plate 62M and dilute sulfuric acid. And a battery case 65 made of plastic, for example, formed in a rectangular parallelepiped.
On the top plate 66 constituting the surface on which the terminals of the battery case 65 are arranged, a positive electrode terminal 64P and a negative electrode terminal 64M are arranged along one side 67 of the top plate 66 with an interval between them. The positive terminal 64P and the negative terminal 64M extend from the top plate 66 toward the inside of the battery case 65, and the terminals 64P and 64M are connected to the positive electrode plate 62P and the negative electrode plate 62M at the ends. Yes.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a cutting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The cutting apparatus 1 includes an upstream first work transport unit 10 and a downstream second work transport unit 20 which are transport means for placing and transporting the lead storage battery 60 to be the work W to be cut. A workpiece cutting unit 30 that cuts W and a workpiece height detection unit 40 that is disposed upstream of the workpiece cutting unit 30 and detects the height of the workpiece W are provided. In addition, the transfer unit 25 that transfers the workpiece W from the first workpiece transfer unit 10 to the detection position of the workpiece height detection unit 40, and grips the workpiece W when cutting by the workpiece cutting unit 30, and transfers the workpiece W to the downstream side. And a feeding unit 26.

  In the first workpiece transfer unit 10, a first transfer body 11 having its transfer means is fixedly supported on a first transfer base 12. The 1st conveyance main body 11 has arrange | positioned the 1st slat conveyor 13a for mounting and conveying the said workpiece | work W in the longitudinal direction. The first slat conveyor 13a is supported by sprockets 16 that can rotate at both ends thereof. A first drive source 14a such as a motor is supported at the lower part of the first transport body 11 and is connected to the sprocket 16 disposed on the downstream side of the transport by a drive chain 15 so that the drive force can be transmitted. Then, the first slat conveyor 13a is driven in the longitudinal direction. Thereby, the workpiece | work W mounted on this conveyor is conveyed in the arrow A direction.

  FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a cutting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Guide rails 17a and 17b for guiding the workpiece W to be placed are provided on both sides of the first slat conveyor 13a disposed in the first workpiece transport unit 10 so as to face each other with the conveyor interposed therebetween. Yes. The guide rail 17a is disposed on the left side in the traveling direction of the conveyor, and the guide rail 17b is disposed on the right side in the traveling direction of the conveyor. These guide rails 17a, 17b are arranged above the first slat conveyor 13a and in parallel with the conveyor forming surface of the first slat conveyor 13a, and the downstream side of the first work conveying section 10 is the downstream side of the first work conveyor 10a. It extends over the 2nd workpiece conveyance part 20, and the both ends are made to protrude outside from the edge part of an apparatus, respectively.

  A transfer unit 25 is disposed at the downstream end of the first workpiece transfer unit 10. The transfer unit 25 includes a reference clamp 3 and a clamping clamp 4 that are disposed opposite to each other on both sides of the first slat conveyor 13a and grip the workpiece W. Both the clamps 3 and 4 are formed to have a concave and convex shape (not shown) on the surface for gripping the workpiece W toward the first slat conveyor 13a, and to firmly grip the workpiece W from both sides. . The reference clamp 3 is disposed on the guide rail 17a side and is fixed to the reference clamp body 3a. The offset clamp 4 is disposed on the guide rail 17b side, and is fixed to two offset clamp slide shafts 4b that penetrate the offset clamp body 4a in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the first slat conveyor 13a. These close clamp slide shafts 4b are arranged to be slidable in the close clamp body 4a in the direction of arrow E in FIG. 2, and are configured to reciprocate by a drive mechanism such as a cylinder (not shown). Then, the workpiece W arranged between the reference clamp 3 and the offset clamp 4 is pressed and held against the reference clamp 3 side by the forward drive of the shift clamp 4 to the conveyor side, or conversely, the workpiece W is driven by the backward drive. It is configured to be separated from W and released.

  The reference clamp body 3a and the offset clamp body 4a are fixedly supported by a first clamp support body 5a disposed below them. The first clamp support 5a extends in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the first slat conveyor 13a is disposed, and two first ends extending in parallel with the first slat conveyor 13a. The slide rail 6 is slidably penetrated.

  A first cylinder 8 serving as a driving means such as an air cylinder is disposed upstream of the first clamp support 5a, and a first cylinder shaft 8a is attached to an upstream end of the first clamp support 5a. It is connected. The first clamp support 5a can be reciprocated in the directions of arrows F and G in FIG. With the above configuration, the workpiece W at the position of the workpiece Wa at the downstream end of the conveyor of the first workpiece transfer unit 10 is gripped by the clamps 3 and 4 and transferred in the direction of arrow F. After transfer, the second workpiece transfer unit The two clamps 3 and 4 that have released the work W are returned in the direction of arrow G to the position of the work Wb corresponding to the detection position of the work height detection unit 40 at the upstream end of the conveyor 20.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the second work transport unit 20 includes a second transport body 22 that supports a second transport body 22 that houses the transport means. The second transport base 22 includes a lift drive motor 23 such as a stepping motor, and the second transport body 21 is configured to be lifted and lowered in the direction of arrow C. The second transport body 21 has a second slat conveyor 13b for placing and transporting the workpiece W arranged in the longitudinal direction. The second slat conveyor 13b is supported by sprockets 16 that can rotate at both ends thereof. A second drive source 14b such as a motor is supported at the lower portion of the second transport body 21 and is connected to the sprocket 16 disposed on the downstream side of the transport by a drive chain 15 so that the drive force can be transmitted. Then, the second slat conveyor 13b is driven in the longitudinal direction. Thereby, the workpiece | work W mounted is conveyed in the arrow B direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the second slat conveyor 13b is disposed on an extension line of the first slat conveyor 13a in the conveyor traveling direction, and continuously conveys the workpiece W. On both sides of the second slat conveyor 13b, the guide rails 17a and 17b for guiding the workpiece W to be placed are provided so as to face each other with the conveyor interposed therebetween.

  Further, a feeding unit 26 is disposed on the upstream side of the workpiece cutting unit 30 in the second workpiece conveying unit 20. The second clamp support 5b provided in the feeding portion 26 extends in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the second slat conveyor 13b is arranged, and both ends thereof extend in parallel with the second slat conveyor 13b. The two second slide rails 7 are slidably penetrated. Both ends of the second slide rail 7 are fixedly supported by the second transport body 21. Constituent members that are the same as the transfer section 25 constituting the feed section 26 are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and description thereof is omitted.

  A second cylinder 9 as a driving means such as an air cylinder is disposed downstream of the second clamp support 5b, and a second cylinder shaft 9a is attached to the downstream end of the second clamp support 5b. It is connected. The second clamp support 5b can be driven to reciprocate in the directions of arrows F and G in FIG. With this configuration, the workpiece Wc that is in a cutting standby state on the upstream side of the workpiece cutting unit 30 in the figure is gripped by the clamps 3 and 4 and transferred in the direction of arrow F to be cut by the workpiece cutting unit 30. The clamps 3 and 4 that have released the workpiece W are returned to the position of the workpiece Wd in the direction of the arrow G. Further, the height of the second transfer body 21 in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 1 adjusted by the lift drive motor 23 is based on the detection result of the height of the workpiece Wb by the workpiece height detection unit 40 described later. It is configured.

  A pair of sensors 2a provided opposite to both sides of the downstream end of the first slat conveyor 13a are arranged so as to detect that the workpiece W has reached the position of the workpiece Wa of the first slat conveyor 13a. Yes. The sensor 2a is electrically connected (not shown) to a controller, and the controller is electrically connected (not shown) to the first drive source 14a and the first cylinder 8. When the workpiece Wa is detected by the sensor 2a, the first drive source 14a immediately stops the conveying operation of the first slat conveyor 13a, and the workpiece Wa is gripped by the transfer unit 25 and moved to the position of the workpiece Wb. And is placed on the second slat conveyor 13b. Then, after the transfer, the operation that the next workpiece W is conveyed to the position of the workpiece Wa and the conveyor is driven again until it is detected by the sensor 2a is repeated.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the workpiece height detection unit 40 is fixedly supported by a support body (not shown) above the position of the workpiece Wb transferred by the transfer unit 25. The workpiece height detection unit 40 includes a detection cylinder 43 that is a driving unit such as an air cylinder, a detector shaft 42 that is driven by the detection cylinder 43, and a tip of the detector shaft 42. And a detector front end portion 41 to be disposed. The detector tip 41 is configured to be driven in the direction of arrow D by reciprocating drive by the detection cylinder 43. The workpiece height detection unit 40 is electrically connected to the control unit, and the control unit is electrically connected to the second drive source 14b. The controller is also electrically connected (not shown) to the lift drive motor 23. The workpiece height detection unit 40 abuts the detector front end surface 41a of the detector front end portion 41 against the top plate 66 on the upper surface of the workpiece Wb, and simultaneously detects the contact height of the workpiece Wb. It is comprised so that the height from the top plate 66 to the bottom face of the battery case 65 can be measured. During the detection by the workpiece height detection unit 40, the second slat conveyor 13b is configured to be stopped, and after the detection, the detector tip 41 is moved away from the top plate 66, and the second The two drive source 14b drives the second slat conveyor 13b to convey the work W to the downstream side.

  A pair of sensors 2b provided facing both sides of the second slat conveyor 13b at the position of the workpiece Wb can detect that the workpiece Wb has reached a detection position directly below the workpiece height detection unit 40. It is arranged so that. The sensor 2b is electrically connected (not shown) to the control unit. When the workpiece Wb is detected by the sensor 2b, the workpiece height detection unit 40 immediately brings the detector tip 41 into contact with the top plate 66 on the upper surface of the workpiece Wb, and performs the above-described detection operation. It is like that. After the detection, when the workpiece Wb is conveyed downstream by driving the second slat conveyor 13b and the next workpiece W is conveyed to the position of the workpiece Wb and detected by the sensor 2b, the workpiece height detection unit 40 is detected. The detection operation is performed repeatedly.

As shown in FIG. 1, the workpiece cutting unit 30 is supported by a support body (not shown) and disposed above the vicinity of the center of the second workpiece transfer unit 20. The workpiece cutting unit 30 includes a cutting mechanism using a band saw 31. The band saw 31 is formed by connecting both ends in the longitudinal direction of a belt-shaped body such as carbon tool steel by a connecting means such as spot welding to form an annular body, and as shown in FIG. The plurality of cutting blades 32 are formed endlessly, and the surface portion other than the cutting blades 32 is arranged in parallel with the conveying direction of the workpiece W so that a cutting surface parallel to the top plate 66 is formed on the workpiece W. It has become. The band saw 31 is wound around the outer peripheral surfaces of two cutting pulleys 33 disposed on both sides of the second slat conveyor 13b, and these cutting pulleys 33 are driven by an unillustrated driving device in FIG. It is configured to drive the formed cutting edge 32 in the direction of arrow H as it is rotationally driven in the direction.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the workpiece cutting unit 30 is arranged so that the driving direction (arrow H direction) of the cutting blade 32 is inclined with respect to the traveling direction of the second slat conveyor 13b. The positive terminal 64P and the negative terminal 64M of FIG. 3 are not brought into contact with the band saw 31 at the same time, but are in contact with each other.

  A pair of sensors 2c are provided on both sides of the second slat conveyor 13b so as to face each other on the upstream side of the workpiece cutting unit 30 of the second workpiece conveying unit 20. This sensor 2c is provided so as to detect that the workpiece W has been transported to the vicinity of the transfer start position by the feeding portion 26 for cutting by the workpiece cutting portion 30. Also, a pair of sensors 2d provided similarly in the vicinity of the downstream side of the sensor 2c also detects that the work W has reached a position where the feeding part 26 can hold the work W by the clamps 3 and 4. It is provided for. These sensors 2c and 2d are electrically connected (not shown) to a control unit, and the control unit is electrically connected to the second cylinder 9. As described above, the controller and the second drive source 14b are also electrically connected. After the workpiece height detection unit 40 detects the height of the workpiece Wb, the second slat conveyor 13b is driven, and the workpiece W is positioned at the position of the workpiece Wc immediately before the workpiece cutting unit 30 on the upstream side. When detected by these sensors 2c and 2d, the second drive source 14b immediately stops the conveying operation of the second slat conveyor 13b, and the workpiece Wc is gripped by the feeding portion 26 and transferred to the position of the workpiece Wd. And is to be cut. After the transfer, the operation is such that the next workpiece W is conveyed to the position of the workpiece Wc and the conveyor is driven again until detected by these sensors 2c and 2d.

  A pair of sensors 2e provided opposite to both sides of the second slat conveyor 13b can detect that the cut workpiece Wd has reached the position of the workpiece We at the downstream end of the second slat conveyor 13b. It is arranged like this. The sensor 2e is electrically connected (not shown) to the control unit. When the workpiece We is detected by the sensor 2e, the second drive source 14b immediately stops the conveying operation of the second slat conveyor 13b. And after discharging this workpiece | work We from an apparatus, it is comprised so that the operation of a conveyor may be driven again until the next workpiece | work W is conveyed to the position of workpiece | work We and detected by this sensor 2e is comprised. .

Next, a cutting method by the cutting apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described.
In FIG. 2, a plurality of workpieces W are loaded from the upstream side of the first slat conveyor 13a of the first workpiece transport unit 10 and placed on the conveyor, and are transported in the direction of arrow A as the first slat conveyor 13a is driven. The When the leading work W is transported to the position of the work Wa, the driving of the first slat conveyor 13a is stopped and the work Wa is gripped by both clamps 3 and 4 of the transfer unit 25.

  Next, the workpiece Wa is transferred to the position of the workpiece Wb immediately below the workpiece height detection unit 40 while being held by the clamps 3 and 4, and is released from the clamps 3 and 4. Next, the workpiece height detecting unit 40 abuts the detector front end surface 41a on the top plate 66 on the upper surface of the workpiece Wb, and detects the height of the workpiece Wb. After the detection, the workpiece W is transported to the position of the workpiece Wc and stopped with the driving of the second slat conveyor 13b. During this transfer, the height of the second transfer body on which the work Wc is placed is raised and lowered in the direction of arrow C according to the detection result of the work height detection unit 40, and the top plate of the work Wc 66 is adjusted so that it can be cut at an appropriate position.

  The workpiece Wc is gripped by the clamps 3 and 4 of the feeding portion 26, passes through the workpiece cutting portion 30 provided on the downstream side thereof, is transferred to the position of the workpiece Wd, and the top plate 66 is moved to the second slat. Cut parallel to the conveyor 13b. At the time of this cutting, the cutting blade 32 is arranged so that the direction of the arrow H to be driven is inclined with respect to the traveling direction of the second slat conveyor 13b, so that the band saw 31 has a positive terminal 64P and a negative terminal of the workpiece W. It is possible to prevent a current from flowing between the two terminals 64P and 64M and sparking without being brought into contact with 64M simultaneously. Thereby, the top plate 66 can be safely cut. Then, the cut workpiece Wd is released from both the clamps 3 and 4, and is transported downstream as the second slat conveyor 13b is driven again, and stops at the position of the workpiece We.

As described above, according to the cutting device and the cutting method according to the present embodiment, the workpiece height detection unit 40 for measuring the height of the lead storage battery 60 is provided, and the detection result by the workpiece height detection unit 40 is obtained. Based on this, the apparatus automatically adjusts the position of the cutting height of the lead storage battery 60 without requiring the operator to individually set the cutting height. Thereby, regardless of the height of the lead storage battery 60, it is possible to accurately position, cut and separate the height at which the top plate 66 of the lead storage battery 60 is cut. Therefore, the cutting process of the lead storage battery 60 can be performed accurately and efficiently.
Further, the transfer unit 25 and the transfer unit 26 can reliably hold the lead storage battery 60 and transfer or cut it to the next process.
Further, since the band saw 31 is configured to contact only one of the positive terminal 64P and the negative terminal 64M, it prevents a current from flowing between the terminals 64P and 64M during sparking, and prevents the top plate 66 from sparking. Can be safely cut, and the life of the cutting blade 32 can be extended.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the present embodiment, the height adjustment of the cutting by the workpiece cutting unit 30 is adjusted by the raising / lowering driving of the second workpiece conveying unit 20, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the cutting blade 32 is driven to move up and down for adjustment. The device may be configured to do so. The thickness of the top plate 66 to be cut may be configured so that the control unit can freely set the thickness.

  In the present embodiment, the workpiece height detection unit 40 detects the workpiece tip surface 41a in contact with the top plate 66. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a height detection method using an optical sensor or the like. Also good.

  In the present embodiment, the workpiece W is a shield battery or the like, but is not limited thereto. For example, an automobile battery or an industrial battery in which an electrolytic solution is stored in the battery case 65 may be used.

It is a side view which shows schematic structure of the cutting device of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the cutting device of one Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows a secondary battery.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cutting device 10 1st workpiece conveyance part 13a 1st slat conveyor 13b 2nd slat conveyor 14b 2nd drive source 20 2nd workpiece conveyance part 21 2nd conveyance main body 22 2nd conveyance base 23 Lifting drive motor 25 Transfer part 26 Feeding part 30 Work cutting part 32 Cutting blade 40 Work height detection part 60 Lead storage battery 63 Separator 64P Positive electrode terminal 64M Negative electrode terminal 65 Battery case 66 Top plate W Workpiece

Claims (7)

A cutting device for cutting the top plate of a secondary battery in which a plurality of terminals are provided on the top plate portion of the battery case to form an opening in the battery case,
Conveying means for placing and conveying the secondary battery;
A workpiece cutting unit that cuts the secondary battery in parallel with the transport direction by a cutting blade facing upstream in the transport direction of the secondary battery;
A workpiece height detection unit that is disposed upstream of the workpiece cutting unit and detects the height of the secondary battery;
A cutting apparatus comprising: adjusting means for adjusting a height of cutting by the workpiece cutting unit according to a detection result of the workpiece height detecting unit. The cutting device according to claim 1, wherein
A cutting apparatus comprising feeding means for gripping and transferring the secondary battery to the downstream side when cutting by the workpiece cutting unit. The cutting device according to claim 1 or 2,
The transport means includes a first work transport unit on the upstream side of transport and a second work transport unit on the downstream side,
A transfer means for transferring the secondary battery from the first work transfer unit to the second work transfer unit;
The second work transport unit is intermittently driven, and includes a control unit that controls the detection of the work height detection unit and the feeding of the feeding unit while the second work transport unit is stopped. Cutting device to do. The cutting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The cutting device, wherein the cutting blade is disposed to be inclined with respect to the transport direction. In the cutting device in any one of Claims 1-4,
The cutting device characterized in that the adjusting means is configured to be adjusted by vertical driving of the second workpiece conveying unit. In the cutting device in any one of Claims 1-4,
The cutting device, wherein the adjusting means is configured to be adjusted by driving the cutting blade up and down. A cutting method using the cutting device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The cutting method characterized in that the cutting height by the workpiece cutting unit is adjusted based on the detection result of the workpiece height detection unit.

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