JP2010113997A - Stacking method and stacking device of cell of fuel cell - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the production efficiency of a fuel cell stack by correctly conducting the stacking work of cells of a fuel cell in a short time. <P>SOLUTION: In a rough-alignment process S100, cells 10 are inserted into a plurality of notches formed in a rough-aligning guide jig 12 and leaned against the notches. Thereby, cells 10 are rough-aligned in the stacking direction in at least such accuracy that positioning reference holes of all cells 10 for aligning are not covered by adjacent cells 10. In a lifting up process S110, a bar 20 of a conveying jig 22 is inserted into the positioning reference hole of the all cells 10 rough-aligned with the rough aligning guide jig 12. In a high-accuracy aligning process S120, cells 10 lifted with the bar 20 are aligned in the stacking direction at necessary positioning accuracy according to the outer shape of the cells by an outer shape guide 30a of a high-accuracy aligning guide jig 26. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel cell stacking method and a stacking apparatus.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the fuel cell includes a fuel cell stack 11 in which a plurality of types of cell constituent members are stacked to form a cell (single cell) 10 and a plurality of cells 10 are stacked. By configuring, a necessary voltage is ensured (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-58835 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-7627

By the way, the stacking operation of the cells 10 at the time of manufacturing the fuel cell stack 11 has been conventionally performed by repeating a necessary number of cells 10 one by one. For example, if the time required for the stacking operation per cell is about 10 seconds, in order to obtain the fuel cell stack 11 in which 300 cells 10 are stacked, 10 × 300 = 3000 seconds ( 50 minutes), which is an obstacle to improving the mass productivity of the fuel cell stack 11.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to enable cell stacking operations to be performed accurately and in a short time, and to increase the production efficiency of the fuel cell stack.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the fuel cell stacking method according to the present invention is configured such that when stacking cells having positioning reference holes, a plurality of cells are initially aligned roughly and then a plurality of cells aligned roughly are aligned. The cells are collectively handled using the positioning reference holes, and the cells are aligned with the required positional accuracy at the same time, thereby reducing the time required for the stacking operation without deteriorating the stacking accuracy of the cells.
Further, the fuel cell stacking apparatus of the present invention conveys a cell from a rough alignment guide jig, a high precision alignment guide jig, and the coarse alignment guide shaft to the high accuracy alignment guide jig. A cell having a plurality of positioning reference holes by the rough alignment guide jig, and the plurality of cells roughly aligned by the conveyance jig having positioning reference holes. By using the high-precision alignment guide jig to align each cell roughly aligned at the required position accuracy at the same time, the time required for the stacking operation can be reduced without degrading the stacking accuracy of the cells. It is shortened.
(Aspect of the Invention)
The following aspects of the present invention exemplify the configuration of the present invention, and will be described separately for easy understanding of various configurations of the present invention. Each section does not limit the technical scope of the present invention, and some of the components of each section are replaced, deleted, or further while referring to the best mode for carrying out the invention. Those to which the above components are added can also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

(1) When stacking cells having positioning reference holes, at least the positioning reference holes of all the cells to be aligned are positioned with respect to each other with such positional accuracy that they are not covered by adjacent cells. A fuel cell stacking method including a rough alignment step of roughly aligning cells in a stacking direction without fixing.
In the method for stacking fuel cells described in this section, when stacking cells having positioning reference holes, at least the positioning reference holes of all the cells to be aligned are covered by adjacent cells in the rough alignment step. By roughly aligning with a position accuracy that is not hidden, the existing positioning reference holes can be used as clues for handling a plurality of cells collectively. Further, since the cells in the roughly aligned state are not fixed to each other, the relative positions of the cells can be corrected and finally aligned with the required positional accuracy.

(2) A fuel cell stacking method including a lifting step of lifting the roughly aligned cells using the positioning reference holes in the above item (1).
The fuel cell stacking method described in this section handles a plurality of roughly aligned cells together by lifting the roughly aligned cells using the positioning reference holes in the lifting step. .

(3) A fuel cell stacking method according to item (2), including a high-precision alignment step of aligning the lifted cells with a required positional accuracy in the stacking direction with reference to the outer shape (claim 1).
In the fuel cell stacking method described in this section, in the lifting process, the cells lifted using the positioning reference holes are aligned with the required positional accuracy at the same time in the high-precision alignment process with reference to the outer shape. Is.

(4) In the lifting step according to the above (2) to (4), a fuel cell in which a bar is inserted into the positioning reference holes of all the roughly aligned cells and the cells roughly aligned by the bar are lifted (2).
The fuel cell stacking method described in this section is arranged roughly by inserting bars into the positioning reference holes of all the cells roughly aligned in the rough alignment process and lifting the cells roughly aligned by the bars. A plurality of cells are handled together.

(5) A fuel cell stacking method according to (1) to (4), wherein the cells are roughly aligned by providing a gap between the cells in the rough alignment step (claim 3).
In the method for stacking fuel cells described in this section, in the rough alignment step, the relative positions of the roughly aligned cells in a state where the positions are not fixed are determined by providing gaps between the cells and roughly aligning the cells. It is corrected by a high precision alignment process and finally aligned with the required positional accuracy.

(6) A cell stacking apparatus having a positioning reference hole, which includes a rough alignment guide jig, a conveying jig, and a high precision alignment guide jig.
In the fuel cell stacking apparatus according to this aspect, the rough alignment guide jig is used to roughly align cells having a plurality of positioning reference holes, and the transport jig is used to roughly align the plurality of cells. The positioning reference holes are used to collectively handle the cells, and the roughly aligned cells are aligned to the required positional accuracy at the same time by the high-precision alignment guide jig.

(7) In the above item (6), the rough alignment guide jig includes a plurality of notches for leaning the cells and aligning them in the stacking direction, and each cell can be appropriately moved inside the notches. In addition, the fuel cell stacking device is formed so that at least the positioning reference holes for all the cells to be aligned are sized so as to be roughly aligned with a positional accuracy that is not covered by adjacent cells.
The fuel cell stacking device described in this section is inserted into a plurality of notches formed in the rough alignment guide jig, and the cells are not fixed in a leaning state, and at least all of them are aligned. The cells are roughly aligned in the stacking direction with a positional accuracy such that the positioning holes of the cells are not covered by adjacent cells. In addition, when inserting the bar of the transport jig, which will be described later, into the positioning reference holes of all the cells roughly aligned by the rough alignment guide jig, each cell moves appropriately in the notch, and the bar Will be encouraged. Therefore, the existing positioning reference holes of the cells can be used as a clue for handling a plurality of cells collectively.

(8) In the above items (6) and (7), the conveying jig is a bar having a cross-sectional shape and a length that can be inserted into the positioning reference hole of the cell leaning against the notch of the coarse alignment guide. A fuel cell stacking device comprising: a driving means for moving the bar in at least three orthogonal directions.
In the fuel cell stacking apparatus described in this section, the bar is moved by the driving means, the bars are inserted into the reference holes for positioning of all the cells roughly aligned by the rough alignment guide jig, and the bars are rough. The aligned cells are lifted and a plurality of roughly aligned cells are handled together.

(9) In the above items (6) to (8), the high-precision alignment guide jig is configured such that each cell lifted by the bar of the transport jig is stacked in a stacking direction with a required positional accuracy based on the outer shape A fuel cell stacking device comprising an outer shape guide for aligning with a fuel cell (claim 4).
The fuel cell stacking apparatus described in this section aligns each cell lifted to the bar by the outer shape guide with a required positional accuracy in the stacking direction with reference to the outer shape. Then, it is possible to correct the relative positions of the cells roughly aligned without being fixed to each other and finally align them with the required positional accuracy.

(10) In the above items (6) to (9), the rough alignment guide jig supports an upper opening for dropping the cell, a lower end guide for supporting the lower end of the cell, and a side end of the cell. A fuel cell stacking device comprising: a side end guide, wherein at least one of the lower end guide or the side end guide is provided with the cutout (Claim 5).
In the fuel cell stacking apparatus described in this section, the lower end of the cell dropped from the upper opening is supported by the lower end guide of the rough alignment guide jig. Further, the side end of the cell is supported by the side end guide of the rough alignment guide jig. In addition, when cells are inserted into the notches provided in at least one of the lower end guide and the side end guide, at least the positioning reference holes for all the cells to be aligned are covered by the adjacent cells. The cells are roughly aligned in the stacking direction with a positional accuracy that does not occur.

(11) In the above items (6) to (10), the high-precision alignment guide jig supports an upper opening for dropping each cell lifted by the transport jig and a lower end of each cell. A lower end guide and a side end guide for supporting a side end of each cell, and the side end guide has a process in which each cell dropped from the upper opening as the outer shape guide comes into contact with the lower end guide. Thus, a fuel cell stacking device in which a slide surface is formed in contact with the edge of each cell to align the cells with the required positional accuracy in the stacking direction (Claim 6).
In the fuel cell stacking apparatus described in this section, the cells roughly aligned in the stacking direction from the upper opening are dropped into the high-precision alignment guide jig at a time, and the outer shape guide formed on the lower end guide is used. When the edge of each cell abuts against a certain slide surface, each cell dropped from the upper opening abuts against the lower end guide, so that the cells are aligned with the required positional accuracy in the stacking direction.

  Since this invention was comprised in this way, it becomes possible to perform the lamination | stacking operation | work of the cell at the time of manufacturing a fuel cell stack correctly and in a short time, and can improve the manufacture efficiency of a fuel cell stack.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Detailed description of the same or corresponding parts as those of the prior art will be omitted.
The fuel cell stacking procedure according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a rough alignment step S100 for roughly aligning the cells in the stacking direction, a lifting step S110 for lifting the cells, and each of the lifted cells as shown in FIG. And a high-precision alignment step S120 for aligning with the required positional accuracy in the stacking direction. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the stacked cells 10 are formed with two positioning reference holes, a primary reference hole 10 a and a secondary reference hole 10 b.

First, in the rough alignment step S100 for roughly aligning cells in the stacking direction, as shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, at the time of stacking the cells 10 having the positioning reference holes 10a and 10b, at least all of the alignment is performed. This is a step of roughly aligning the cells in the stacking direction without positioning the cell positioning reference holes so as not to be covered by the adjacent cells.
The dimensional accuracy of each cell is manufactured with a considerably high accuracy, and the lower end 10c, the side end 10d, the upper end 10e in the state where the cell 10 is leaned as shown in FIGS. The positional relationship with the positioning reference holes 10 a and 10 b also ensures the accuracy necessary for configuring the fuel cell stack 11.

In the rough alignment step S100 shown in FIG. 1, in order to roughly align each cell in the stacking direction, a rough alignment guide jig 12 having a plurality of notches for leaning the cells 10 is used. The rough alignment guide jig 12 includes a lower end guide 14 that supports the lower end 10 c of the cell (single cell) 10, and a side end guide 16 that supports the side end 10 d of the cell 10. Further, there is nothing blocking the space surrounded by the lower end guide 14 and the side end guide 16, and the upper opening 18 for dropping the cell 10 is formed. And the lower end guide 14 and the side end guide 16 have the full length according to the number of the cells to laminate | stack. Further, the lower end guide 14 and the side end guide 16 are fixed to each other by an appropriate support structure so that the positional relationship is not shifted, and the material thereof is made of resin from the viewpoint of protecting the cell 10. desirable.
In the illustrated example, the lower end guide 14 is constituted by two rod-shaped members, and has a length corresponding to the number of cells 10 to be stacked. The side end guide 16 is also composed of two rod-shaped members, and has a length corresponding to the number of cells 10 to be stacked. And as FIG. 3 shows, the notch 16a penetrated to an up-down direction by planar view is provided with two or more at equal intervals. Note that the notches 16a facing each other of the two side end guides 16 have a symmetrical shape, and each notch 16a is formed to have a dimension in which the cell 10 can be appropriately moved. As an example, when the thickness of the cell 10 is 1 to 2 mm, the width of the notches 16a is about 3 mm and the pitch of the notches 16a is about 1 to 2 mm. The cell 10 is inserted into the notch 16a of the rough alignment guide jig 12 by hand or by an appropriate automatic insertion device one by one, but the positioning operation at this time may be rough. It can be done easily and quickly.

A lifting step S110 subsequent to the rough alignment step S100 shown in FIG. 1 is a step of lifting the roughly aligned cells 20 using the positioning reference holes 10a and 10b.
In this lifting step S110, as shown in FIG. 5, the bar 20 having a cross-sectional shape and a length that can be inserted into the positioning reference holes 10a and 10b of the cell 10 leaning on the notch 16a of the rough alignment guide 12; In addition, a transfer jig 22 including a driving unit (for example, another axis robot, a triaxial transfer device, or the like) that moves the bar 20 in at least three orthogonal axes is used. A portion indicated by reference numeral 24 is a stopper that receives the end cell 10. In the lifting step S110, the bar 20 is inserted into the positioning reference holes 10a and 10b of all the roughly aligned cells 10, and the roughly aligned cells 10 together with the bars 20 are lifted. In FIG. 5, a state where the bar 20 of the conveying jig 22 is inserted into the positioning reference holes 10 a and 10 b of the cell 10 is indicated by dotted lines.
In the illustrated example, two bars 20 are provided at positions corresponding to the positioning reference holes 10a, 10b of the cell 10, and round bars having the same diameter are used. The bar 20 is not limited in its shape as long as it has a cross-sectional shape and length that can be inserted into the positioning reference holes 10a and 10b and a necessary strength. The material is preferably made of resin from the viewpoint of protecting the cell 10.

A high-precision alignment step S120 subsequent to the lifting step S110 shown in FIG. 1 is a step of aligning the cells 10 lifted in the rough alignment step S100 with the required positional accuracy in the stacking direction with reference to the outer shape.
In the high precision alignment step S120, the high precision alignment guide jig 26 shown in FIG. 6 is used. The high-precision alignment guide jig 26 includes a lower end guide 28 that supports the lower end 10 c of each cell 10, and a side end guide 30 that supports the side end 10 d of each cell 10. Further, there is nothing blocking the space surrounded by the lower end guide 28 and the side end guide 30, and the upper opening 32 for dropping the cell 10 is formed. In the illustrated example, the lower end guide 28 is configured by two rod-shaped members, and is configured to have a length on which all the cells 10 for configuring the fuel cell stack 11 can be placed. Further, the side end guide 30 is also composed of two rod-like members, and is configured to have a length capable of mounting all the cells 10 for constituting the fuel cell stack 11. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6, the side edge guide 30 has an edge (10c, 10d), a slide surface 30a that is inclined so as to be narrowed downward is formed in order to align with the required positional accuracy in the stacking direction. The slide surface 30 a functions as an outer shape guide for the cell 10. Further, the lower end guide 28 and the side end guide 30 are also fixed to each other by an appropriate support structure so that the positional relationship does not deviate. desirable.

Then, after the cells 10 are aligned with the required positional accuracy in the stacking direction by the high-precision alignment guide jig 26, the bar 20 of the transport jig 22 is pulled out from the positioning reference holes 10 a and 10 b of the cell 10. By fixing all the cells 10 on the precision alignment guide jig 26, the fuel cell stack 11 shown in FIG. 7 is completed.
The rough alignment guide jig 12, the conveyance jig 22, and the high precision alignment guide jig 26 are inserted into the rough alignment guide jig 12 by the conveyance jig 22. It is desirable that each of the cells is appropriately arranged so as to have a positional relationship suitable for quickly and accurately carrying the cell 10 from the rough alignment guide jig 12 to the high accuracy alignment guide jig 26.

  Now, according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above, the following operational effects can be obtained. First, in the fuel cell stacking method according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the cells 10 having the positioning reference holes 10a and 10b are stacked, a plurality of the rough alignment guide jigs 12 are provided in the rough alignment step S100. By positioning the cell 10 in the notch 16a formed and standing up, at least the positioning reference holes 10a, 10b of all the cells 10 to be aligned are not covered by the adjacent cells 10. With accuracy, each cell 10 can be roughly aligned in the stacking direction. Therefore, it becomes possible to use the existing positioning reference holes 10a and 10b in the cell 10 as a clue to handle the plurality of cells 10 together.

  In the subsequent lifting step S110, the bar 20 is at least orthogonal to the bar 20 having a cross-sectional shape and a length that can be inserted into the positioning reference holes 10a and 10b of the cell 10 leaning against the notch 16a of the rough alignment guide 12. The bar 20 is inserted into the positioning reference holes 10a and 10b of all the cells 10 roughly aligned by the rough alignment guide jig 12 by a conveying jig 22 having driving means for moving in three axial directions. At this time, each cell 10 appropriately moves in the notch 16 a of the rough alignment guide 12 to prompt the insertion of the bar 20. Then, the roughly aligned cells 10 can be lifted by the bar 20, and a plurality of roughly aligned cells can be handled collectively.

  Further, in the high accuracy alignment step S120, the cells 10 lifted to the bar 20 are aligned with the required positional accuracy in the stacking direction with reference to the external shape by the external shape guide 30a of the high accuracy alignment guide jig 26. It is. Then, it is possible to correct the relative positions of the cells 10 that are roughly aligned in a state where the positions are not fixed to each other, and finally align with the required position accuracy.

  The rough alignment guide jig 12 supports the lower end 10 c of the cell 10 dropped from the upper opening 18 by the lower end guide 14 of the rough alignment guide jig, and the side end guide 16 supports the side end 10 d of the cell 10. Is to support. In addition, when the cells 10 are inserted into the plurality of notches 16a provided at equal intervals in the side end guide 16, at least the positioning reference holes 10a and 10b of all the cells 10 to be aligned are adjacent to each other. 10 is roughly aligned in the stacking direction with a positional accuracy that is not covered by 10.

  Further, the notches 16a of the rough alignment guide jig 12 are formed in dimensions so that the cells 10 can be appropriately moved therein, so that the roughly aligned cells 10 are notched. The position is not fixed in the inserted state. Therefore, when the bars 20 are inserted into the positioning reference holes 10a and 10b of all the cells 10 roughly aligned by the rough alignment guide jig 12, the cells 10 are appropriately moved to prompt the insertion of the bars 20. It becomes. Then, in the high-precision alignment guide jig 26, the relative positions of the cells 10 are corrected in the state where the bars 20 are inserted into the positioning reference holes 10a and 1b, and finally aligned with the required positional accuracy. Is possible.

  Further, the high precision alignment guide jig 26 is configured such that the cells 10 roughly aligned in the stacking direction from the upper opening 32 are dropped into the high precision alignment guide jig at a time, and the outer shape formed on the lower end guide 28 is formed. In the process in which each cell 10 dropped from the upper opening 32 comes into contact with the lower end guide 28 by the end sides (10c, 10d) of each cell 10 coming into contact with the slide surface 30a as a guide, They are aligned with the required positional accuracy in the stacking direction.

  In addition, the reference holes 10a and 10b for positioning of the illustrated cell 10 have different shapes in the main reference hole 10a and the sub reference hole 10b in order to prevent erroneous assembly during the conventional manual stacking operation. However, when the cell 10 is automatically inserted from the time of inserting the cell 10 into the rough alignment guide jig 12, both reference holes may have the same shape. Each of the lower end guide 14 and the side end guide 16 of the rough alignment guide jig 12 is composed of two rod-shaped members. It is possible to appropriately change the configuration of the plate-like member. The same applies to the lower end guide 28 and the side end guide 30 of the high precision alignment guide jig 26.

3 is a flowchart of a method for stacking fuel cells according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a rough alignment guide jig of a fuel cell stacking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of the rough alignment guide jig shown in FIG. 2. It is a single figure of the cell used as the object of the lamination method and apparatus of the fuel cell concerning an embodiment of the invention. It is a top view which shows typically the conveyance jig of the stacking apparatus of the fuel cell concerning an embodiment of the invention. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a high-precision alignment guide jig of a fuel cell stacking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a fuel cell stack.

Explanation of symbols

  10: cell, 10a, 10b: positioning reference hole, 10c: lower end, 10d: side end, 11: fuel cell stack, 12: rough alignment guide jig, 14: lower end guide, 16: side end guide, 18: Upper opening, 20: bar, 22: conveying jig, 26: guide jig for high precision alignment, 28: lower end guide, 30: side end guide, 30a: slide surface, 32: upper opening

Claims (6)

When stacking cells having positioning reference holes, at least the positioning reference holes of all the cells to be aligned must be fixed to each other with such positional accuracy as not to be covered by adjacent cells. Without roughly aligning the cells in the stacking direction,
A lifting step of lifting the roughly aligned cells using the positioning reference holes;
A fuel cell stacking method comprising: a high-precision alignment step of aligning each lifted cell with a required positional accuracy in the stacking direction with reference to the outer shape thereof. 2. The fuel cell stacking method according to claim 1, wherein, in the lifting step, a bar is inserted into the positioning reference holes of all the roughly aligned cells, and the roughly aligned cells are lifted by the bar. 3. The fuel cell stacking method according to claim 1, wherein in the rough alignment step, the cells are roughly aligned by providing a gap between the cells. A cell stacking device having a positioning reference hole,
Including a rough alignment guide jig, a conveying jig, and a high-precision alignment guide jig,
The rough alignment guide jig is provided with a plurality of notches that stand up and align cells in the stacking direction, and the notches are movable within each cell as appropriate, and at least of all the cells to be aligned. The positioning reference hole is formed to have a size for rough alignment with a positional accuracy that is not covered by the adjacent cell,
The conveying jig includes a bar having a cross-sectional shape and a length that can be inserted into the positioning reference hole of the cell leaning against the notch of the rough alignment guide, and a drive that moves the bar in at least three orthogonal directions. Means and
The high-precision alignment guide jig includes an outer shape guide for aligning each cell lifted by the bar of the conveying jig in the stacking direction with a required positional accuracy based on the outer shape. Fuel cell stacking device. The rough alignment guide jig includes an upper opening for dropping a cell, a lower end guide for supporting a lower end of the cell, and a side end guide for supporting a side end of the cell, and the lower end guide or the side end 5. The fuel cell stacking apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the notch is provided in at least one of the guides. The high-precision alignment guide jig includes an upper opening for dropping each cell lifted by the transport jig, a lower end guide for supporting the lower end of each cell, and a side end for supporting the side end of each cell. With a guide,
In the side edge guide, as the outer shape guide, each cell dropped from the upper opening abuts against the lower end guide, and abuts against the edge of each cell, so that the required positional accuracy in the stacking direction. 6. The fuel cell stacking apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a slide surface for aligning the cells is formed.

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