JP2010182504A - Device for manufacturing fuel cell, and method of manufacturing fuel cell - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for manufacturing a fuel cell capable of improving productivity of cells with a simple structure, and to provide a method of manufacturing the fuel cell. <P>SOLUTION: The device for manufacturing the fuel cell includes a plurality of cassettes 2 in which a plurality of stages of shelves 2a to support a cell component 1 are installed, a drying oven which heats cell component 1 supported respectively by each shelf 2a of the cassette 2, an inter-oven transfer means 4 which transports the cassettes 2 in which the cell component 1 is respectively supported on each shelf 2a inside the drying oven 3, a feeding means 5 which is arranged at a feeding position Pi of the drying oven 3, supports the plurality of cassettes 2, and insertion arranges the cell component 1 in order on each shelf 2a, a delivery means 6 which is arranged at the delivery position Po of the drying oven 3, supports the plurality of cassettes 2, and takes out the cell component 1 in order from each shelf 2a, and a return transfer means 7 which transports the empty cassettes 2 at the outside of the drying oven 3 from the delivery position Po to the feeding position Pi. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a fuel cell manufacturing apparatus and a fuel cell manufacturing method, and more particularly, prior to integrally molding a gasket on cell components of a fuel cell, applying a primer and drying the fuel cell. The present invention relates to a fuel cell manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a fuel cell and a method for manufacturing a fuel cell in which a primer is applied to a cell component of the fuel cell and then dried.

  In general, a fuel cell is configured by stacking a plurality of cells. When assembled as a fuel cell, end plates are arranged at the ends of the stacked cells in the stacking direction, and both end plates are fastened by tension members with a predetermined load applied. The fuel cell components are sandwiched between the separators. As components of each cell, there are separators, MEAs (Membrane Electrode Assemblies) each having electrode layers on both sides of the electrolyte membrane, gas diffusion layers arranged on both sides of the MEA, and gas It contains a porous body that allows each gas to flow to the diffusion layer. A component constituted by the MEA and the gas diffusion layers disposed on both sides thereof is generally called MEGA.

  The fuel cell has a manifold for distributing and supplying a reaction gas (hydrogen, air, etc.) and a cooling medium to each cell. A manifold hole is formed around the area where the fuel cell components of the separator are stacked. In each cell, a gasket is integrally formed so as to surround the manifold hole on one surface of the separator and to seal the periphery of the fuel cell components, thereby constituting a manifold.

  By the way, prior to molding such a gasket, a primer is applied to each component of each cell and dried in order to ensure the adhesive strength of the gasket. Cell component production is required to be performed in a clean environment, and therefore must be performed in a clean environment so that dust does not adhere even when the primer is dried.

  As a conventional general apparatus for drying the primer applied to the cell component, a drying furnace 3 ′ is provided adjacent to the primer coating apparatus C as shown in FIG. A flat belt 4 'for conveying the components was provided at the carry-out port of the furnace 3'. A heating zone is configured by providing heating means H such as a far-infrared heater in the upper part except for the vicinity of the carry-out port 3b ′ in the drying furnace 3 ′, and the carry-out port 3b in the drying furnace 3 ′. In the vicinity, a cooling zone is formed without providing the heating means H. And when using such an apparatus, the component 1 of a cell is mounted on flat belt 4 ', a primer is apply | coated with the primer application apparatus C, and the inside of drying furnace 3' is conveyed. It has been common practice to dry the applied primer.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, in order to make the area occupied by the drying furnace 3 ′ compact, the cell component 1 coated with the primer is meandered in the drying furnace 3 ′, that is, ascending movement, The horizontal movement, the downward movement, and the horizontal movement are repeated (hereinafter, these movements are collectively referred to as “meandering movement”). As a structure for meanderingly moving the component 1 of the cell in the drying furnace 3 ', for example, in a part to be moved up and a part to be moved down, a plurality of support bases that support the component are connected by a chain or the like. In the horizontally moving portion, a means such as a traverser is provided to horizontally transfer the cell component 1 between the ascending portion and the descending portion.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses a continuous heat treatment apparatus having a drying furnace, a cassette, an ascending side table and a descending side table, a traverser, an ascending side elevator, and a descending side elevator. The cassette has an atmosphere for heat-treating the substrate therein, and the cassette accommodates a plurality of substrates to be heat-treated in the drying furnace. The side table holds the cassettes housed in the drying furnace in an up-and-down direction, and the traverser moves the uppermost cassette held on the ascending side table to the uppermost stage on the descending side table. The ascending elevator lifts the cassette in which the substrate is stored to the ascending table side, and moves the cassette onto the cassette. Accept the lowermost cassette on the ascending table, add a new cassette, raise the newly added cassette to the height position of the ascending table, and raise the newly added cassette as the lowermost cassette. A continuous heat treatment apparatus, which is supported by a side table, wherein the lowering elevator receives the lowermost cassette on the lowering table, lowers the cassette and pulls it out from the lowering table. Is disclosed.

  And in Patent Document 1, a cassette is described as follows: “Inner walls facing each other are provided with grooves for receiving opposite edges of the substrate, and a plurality of substrates are received in the upper and lower sides by this groove. And the like (0023). Further, Patent Document 1 describes that “when the inside of the cassette 3c is filled with the substrate 2, the transfer robot 4 stops the transfer of the substrate 2 into the cassette 3c”. (0029). Further, Patent Document 1 describes that “a space for one sheet is secured at the uppermost stage on the descending table so as to receive a cassette from the traverser” (0030).

JP-A-8-330378

  However, among the above prior arts, the one shown in FIG. 5 is for drying the primer while being transported from the carry-in port 3a ′ to the carry-out port 3b ′ of the drying furnace 3 ′. There is a problem that the length between the carry-in port 3a 'and the carry-out port 3b' of the furnace 3 'becomes long, and the drying furnace 3' is enlarged.

  Further, as described above, the components of the fuel cell are required to be produced in a clean environment. However, in order to eliminate the increase in the size of the drying furnace, in the case of meandering movement as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of support bases for supporting the cell component 1 are connected by a chain or the like. However, since the dust is generated from the sliding portion due to bending or the like, there is a problem that the primer cannot be dried under a clean environment, that is, the fuel cell cannot be produced.

  Furthermore, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the cassettes in which the substrates are stored inside the drying furnace are circulated by moving up and down from the state where the cassettes are stacked and supported by the table. Since the substrate is transferred one by one to the single cassette that faces the substrate, the substrate is transferred to the cassette by the transfer robot when the cassette is full of substrates. Therefore, it takes time to transfer the substrate into and out of the cassette, and during that time, it is not possible to move up and down, and further, the cassette is moved up and down. Since it is necessary to open and close the table arm when moving the cassette, it takes time to move the cassette up and down. There was a cormorant problem. On the other hand, since the fuel cell is configured by stacking an enormous number of cells, it takes time to increase the productivity of the fuel cell.

  In Patent Document 1, since a relatively rigid substrate is a target for heat treatment, it can be inserted and accommodated in a groove of a cassette, but a primer is applied to MEGA as a component of a fuel cell. In the case of drying, the MEGA is extremely thin, lightweight and not rigid, so that it cannot be inserted into the groove of the cassette as in Patent Document 1. When the cell component is MEGA, it is necessary to support the entire surface. Further, when the cell component is MEGA and the coated primer is dried in the drying furnace, convection due to heat in the drying furnace is required. It is necessary to support the MEGA so that it does not float due to, for example, but since a relatively heavy substrate is a target to be heat-treated in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to support the substrate over the entire surface and prevent floating in the cassette. It was not considered.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a fuel cell manufacturing apparatus capable of improving cell productivity with a simple configuration.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a fuel cell capable of improving cell productivity with a simple configuration.

In order to achieve the above object, the fuel cell manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 is a fuel cell manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a fuel cell by drying a primer applied to a cell component of the fuel cell. A plurality of cassettes provided with a plurality of stages of shelves for supporting the cell component parts, a drying furnace for heating the cell component parts supported respectively on the shelves of the cassette, and each shelf inside the drying furnace, respectively In-furnace transport means for transporting the cassette on which the cell component parts are supported, carry-in means for sequentially inserting and arranging the cell component parts on each shelf of a plurality of cassettes arranged at the carry-in position of the drying furnace, A carrying-out means for sequentially taking out the cell components from the shelves of a plurality of cassettes arranged at a carrying-out position of the drying furnace, and an empty cassette is carried outside the drying furnace from the carrying-out position to the carrying-in position. It is characterized in that a conveying means.
In order to achieve the above object, a fuel cell manufacturing method according to claim 2 is a method of manufacturing a fuel cell in which a primer is applied to a cell component of the fuel cell and then dried. A plurality of cassettes provided with a plurality of shelves for supporting the cell, a drying furnace for heating the cell components supported on the respective shelves of the cassette, and the cell components on each of the shelves inside the drying furnace An in-furnace transport means for transporting the cassette on which the cell is supported, a carry-in means for sequentially inserting and arranging the cell components on the shelves of the plurality of cassettes arranged at the carry-in position of the drying furnace, and an unloading of the drying furnace A carry-out means for sequentially taking out the cell components from the shelves of a plurality of cassettes arranged at a position; and a return carrying hand for carrying the empty cassette from the carry-out position to the carry-in position outside the drying furnace. Are prepared in advance, a plurality of cassettes are arranged at the carry-in position, and cell components are sequentially inserted and arranged on the shelf of one of the cassettes by the carry-in means, and the cell components are inserted and arranged on each shelf. A step in which the cassettes that have been completed are sequentially transported inside the drying furnace by means of in-furnace transport means, and a plurality of cassettes are arranged at the unloading position, and the cell components whose primer is dried from one of the cassette shelves are unloaded. The step of sequentially taking out by the means and the step of sequentially carrying empty cassettes outside the drying furnace from the carry-out position to the carry-in position by the return carrying means are performed simultaneously.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the cell components are sequentially inserted and arranged on the shelves of the plurality of cassettes, the drying furnace, the conveying means in the furnace, and the plurality of cassettes arranged at the loading position of the drying furnace. Transport means, transport means for sequentially taking out the cell components from the shelves of a plurality of cassettes arranged at the transport position of the drying furnace, and transporting an empty cassette from the transport position to the transport position outside the drying furnace A plurality of cassettes arranged at a loading position, and cell components are sequentially inserted and arranged on the shelf of one of the cassettes by the loading means; A step in which the cassettes in which the cell component parts are inserted and arranged are sequentially transported inside the drying furnace by the in-furnace transport means, and the cell component parts placed on the plurality of shelves are sequentially dried for each cassette; A step of arranging a plurality of cassettes at the carry-out position and sequentially taking out the cell constituent parts dried by the primer from the shelf of one of the cassettes by the carry-out means, and a drying furnace from the carry-out position to the carry-in position by the return carrying means Since the step of sequentially transporting empty cassettes can be performed at the same time, a fuel cell manufacturing apparatus capable of improving cell productivity can be provided.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the cell components are sequentially inserted on the shelves of the plurality of cassettes, the drying furnace, the in-furnace conveying means, and the plurality of cassettes arranged at the loading position of the drying furnace. Carrying-in means to be arranged; carrying-out means for sequentially taking out the cell components from the respective shelves of a plurality of cassettes arranged at the carrying-out position of the drying furnace; and an empty cassette outside the drying furnace from the carrying-out position to the carrying-in position. A plurality of cassettes at a loading position, and cell components are sequentially inserted and arranged on the shelf of one of the cassettes by the loading means; The step of transporting the cassette in which the cell component parts have been inserted and placed in sequence in the drying furnace by means of the in-furnace transport means, and arranging a plurality of cassettes at the unloading position from one of the cassette shelves By simultaneously performing the step of sequentially taking out the cell components dried by the limer by the carry-out means and the step of sequentially carrying empty cassettes from the carry-out position to the carry-in position by the return carrying means outside the drying furnace, It is possible to provide a method of manufacturing a fuel cell capable of improving the productivity.

(Aspect of the Invention)
In the following, the invention that is claimed to be claimable in the present application (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “claimable invention”. The claimable invention is at least the “present invention” to the invention described in the claims. Some aspects of the present invention, including subordinate concept inventions of the present invention, superordinate concepts of the present invention, and inventions of other concepts) will be exemplified and described. As with the claims, each aspect is divided into sections, each section is numbered, and is described in a form that cites the numbers of other sections as necessary. This is for the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the claimable invention, and is not intended to limit the combinations of the constituent elements constituting the claimable invention to those described in the following sections. In other words, the claimable invention should be construed in consideration of the description accompanying each section, the description of the embodiments, etc., and as long as the interpretation is followed, another aspect is added to the form of each section. In addition, an aspect in which constituent elements are deleted from the aspect of each item can be an aspect of the claimable invention. In each of the following items, item (1) corresponds to claim 1, item (2) corresponds to claim 2, item (5) corresponds to claim 3, and item (6) claims. This corresponds to item 4.

(1) A fuel cell manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a fuel cell by drying a primer applied to a cell component of the fuel cell,
A plurality of cassettes provided with a plurality of shelves for supporting the cell components;
A drying furnace for heating the cell components supported on the respective shelves of the cassette;
In-furnace transport means for transporting a cassette in which the cell components are supported on each shelf inside the drying furnace,
Carrying-in means for sequentially inserting and arranging the cell components on the shelves of a plurality of cassettes arranged at the carrying-in position of the drying furnace;
Carrying-out means for sequentially taking out the cell components from the shelves of a plurality of cassettes arranged at the carrying-out position of the drying furnace;
An apparatus for manufacturing a fuel cell, comprising: a return transport unit configured to transport an empty cassette from the carry-out position to the carry-in position outside the drying furnace.

  In the invention of (1), when a plurality of cassettes are arranged at the loading position of the drying furnace, cell components are sequentially inserted and arranged on the shelf of one cassette by the loading means, and the cassette shelf is full. The cassette, in which the cell components are supported on each shelf inside the drying furnace by the in-furnace transport means, is transported in the drying furnace by the transport means, and the cell components arranged on the plurality of shelves are In parallel with this, drying is performed for each cassette, and in parallel with this, cell components are sequentially inserted and placed on the shelves of other cassettes that have been waiting at the loading position. At the same time, a plurality of cassettes carried out from the drying furnace are arranged at the carrying-out position, and the cell components from which the primer has been dried are sequentially taken out from the shelf of one cassette by the carrying-out means, and the cassette shelf is empty. Then, the cassette is transported from the unloading position to the loading position by the return transport means outside the drying furnace, and in parallel with this, the cell components are sequentially transferred from the shelves of other cassettes waiting at the unloading position. Take out. Since each process can be performed simultaneously, the fuel cell manufacturing apparatus which can improve the productivity of a cell can be provided.

  (2) The fuel cell manufacturing apparatus according to (1), wherein an adsorption means for adsorbing the cell components is provided on each shelf of the cassette.

  In the invention of the item (2), in the invention described in the item (1), the cell component is likely to be lifted by providing each shelf of the cassette with an adsorption means for adsorbing the cell component. However, the cell components can be reliably supported over the entire surface of each shelf.

  (3) The fuel cell manufacturing apparatus according to any one of (1) and (2), wherein the cell component is MEA or MEGA.

  In the invention of item (3), in the invention described in item (1) or (2), drying of a primer applied to MEA or MEGA can be realized as a cell component.

  (4) At least one of the carry-in means and the carry-out means includes a horizontal articulated robot and a lifter that moves the plurality of cassettes up and down, respectively. (1) to (3) The fuel cell manufacturing apparatus as described.

  In the invention of item (4), in the invention of any one of items (1) to (3), at least one of the carry-in means and the carry-out means is a horizontal articulated robot, and a lifter that moves each of the plurality of cassettes up and down. To ensure that the cell components gripped by the horizontal articulated robot are supported on each shelf of each cassette in a short time and / or the cell components are horizontally mounted from each shelf of each cassette. It can be gripped by an articulated robot and reliably removed in a short time.

(5) A method of manufacturing a fuel cell in which a primer is applied to a cell component of the fuel cell and then dried.
A plurality of cassettes provided with a plurality of stages of shelves for supporting the cell component parts, a drying furnace for heating the cell component parts supported respectively on the shelves of the cassette, and each shelf inside the drying furnace, respectively In-furnace transport means for transporting the cassette on which the cell component parts are supported, carry-in means for sequentially inserting and arranging the cell component parts on each shelf of a plurality of cassettes arranged at the carry-in position of the drying furnace, Carry-out means for sequentially taking out the cell components from the shelves of a plurality of cassettes arranged at the carry-out position of the drying furnace, and return conveyance for carrying an empty cassette from the carry-out position to the carry-in position outside the dry furnace Means in advance,
A step of arranging a plurality of cassettes at the loading position and sequentially inserting and arranging cell components on the shelf of one of the cassettes by the loading means;
A step of sequentially transporting cassettes in which insertion of cell components to each shelf is completed, inside the drying furnace by means of in-furnace transport means;
A step of arranging a plurality of cassettes at the unloading position and sequentially taking out the cell components from which the primer is dried from the shelf of one of the cassettes by the unloading means;
A method of manufacturing a fuel cell, comprising simultaneously performing a step of sequentially transporting empty cassettes outside the drying furnace from the carry-out position to the carry-in position by the return transport means.

  In the invention of item (5), a plurality of cassettes, a drying furnace, an in-furnace transport means, and a carrying-in in which the cell components are sequentially inserted and placed on each shelf of a plurality of cassettes arranged at a loading position of the drying furnace. Means, unloading means for sequentially taking out the cell components from the shelves of a plurality of cassettes arranged at the unloading position of the drying furnace, and conveying an empty cassette from the unloading position to the loading position outside the drying furnace. Preparing a return conveying means in advance, arranging a plurality of cassettes at the carry-in position, and sequentially inserting and arranging the cell components on the shelf of one of the cassettes by the carry-in means; A process in which the cassettes in which the cell component parts have been inserted and arranged are sequentially transported inside the drying furnace by means of in-furnace transport means, and the cell component parts placed on a plurality of shelves are sequentially dried for each cassette, and then carried out. A plurality of cassettes are arranged in the apparatus, a step of sequentially taking out the cell constituent parts dried by the primer from one of the cassette shelves by the carrying-out means, and a return carrying means from the carrying-out position to the carrying-in position by the return carrying means. Thus, it is possible to provide a method of manufacturing a fuel cell capable of simultaneously carrying out the step of sequentially transporting empty cassettes outside, and thus improving cell productivity.

  (6) Item (5) is characterized in that an adsorption means for adsorbing the cell component is provided in advance on each shelf of the cassette, and the cell component inserted and arranged on each shelf of the cassette is adsorbed. Fuel cell manufacturing method.

  In the invention of (6), in the invention described in (5), suction means for sucking cell components is provided in advance on each shelf of the cassette, and the cell components inserted and arranged on each shelf of the cassette are sucked. By doing so, even if the cell components are likely to float, the cell components can be reliably supported over the entire surface of each shelf.

  (7) The fuel cell manufacturing method according to any one of (5) and (6), wherein the cell component of the fuel cell is MEA or MEGA.

  In the invention of the item (7), in the invention described in the item (5) or (6), it is possible to embody drying the primer applied to the MEA or MEGA as the cell component.

(8) At least one of the carry-in means and the carry-out means is constituted by a horizontal articulated robot and a lifter that moves the plurality of cassettes up and down,
The horizontal articulated robot sequentially inserts and / or disposes cell components to one shelf among a plurality of cassettes arranged at the carry-in position and / or the carry-out position. The method of manufacturing a fuel cell according to any one of (5) to (7), wherein the fuel cell is moved up and down.

  In the invention of item (8), in the invention of any one of items (5) to (7), at least one of the carry-in means and the carry-out means is a horizontal articulated robot, and a lifter that moves the plurality of cassettes up and down respectively. Thus, the cell components gripped by the horizontal articulated robot can be reliably supported on each shelf of each cassette in a short time and / or the cell components can be horizontally assembled from each shelf of each cassette. It can be grasped by the joint robot and reliably removed in a short time.

It is the top view shown notionally in order to demonstrate the manufacturing apparatus of the fuel cell of this invention. It is a front view of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which showed the state which inserts and carries in a cell component sequentially on each shelf of a cassette by a carrying-in means, and also takes out a cell component from each shelf of a cassette sequentially by a carrying-out means. The cell components inserted on the cassette shelf by the carry-in means are adsorbed by the adsorption means provided on each cassette shelf, and are adsorbed by the adsorption means provided on each cassette shelf. It is explanatory drawing which showed the state which adsorbed and held the cell component which had been carried out by the carrying-out means, and took out the cell component from the shelf of a cassette. It is the front view shown notionally in order to demonstrate the conventional general apparatus for drying the primer apply | coated to the cell component. It is the front view shown notionally in order to demonstrate the conventional apparatus which meanders and moves the component of the cell to which the primer was apply | coated in a drying furnace.

First, an embodiment of a fuel cell manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. In the drawings, the same reference numerals denote the same or corresponding parts.
The apparatus of the present invention generally dries a primer applied to a cell component of a fuel cell, and includes a plurality of cassettes 2 provided with a plurality of shelves 2a for supporting the cell component 1, and the cassette 2 A drying furnace 3 for heating the cell components 1 supported on the respective shelves 2a, and an in-furnace transport means 4 for transporting the cassettes 2 respectively supported on the shelves 2a within the drying furnace 3 And a loading means 5 that is arranged at the loading position Pi of the drying furnace 3 to support the plurality of cassettes 2 and sequentially inserts and arranges the cell components 1 on the respective shelves 2a, and is arranged at the loading position Po of the drying furnace 3. The unloading means 6 for supporting the plurality of cassettes 2 and sequentially taking out the cell components 1 from the respective shelves 2a, and the return conveyance for conveying the empty cassette 2 from the unloading position Po to the loading position Pi outside the drying furnace 3. Means 7 and Cage, further, the surface of each shelf 2a of the cassette 2, the suction means 8 for adsorbing the cell components 1 are provided.
In this embodiment, the case of MEGA 1 which is easy to float by convection due to heat in the drying furnace 3 because it is particularly thin and light as a cell component for drying the applied primer will be described.

  In the drying furnace 3, as shown in FIG. 5, heating means H such as a far infrared heater is provided on the conveyance path of the cassette 2. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a carry-in port 3 a (left side) and a carry-out port 3 b (right side) are formed at the end portion in the drying furnace 3. Accordingly, in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the carry-in position Pi of the cassette 2 is shown on the left side of the drying furnace 3, and the carry-out position Po of the cassette 2 is shown on the right side of the drying furnace 3. In the drying furnace 3, a belt conveyor 4 having heat resistance is disposed from the carry-in port 3 a to the carry-out port 3 b as a furnace conveying means.

  The carry-in device 5 provided at the carry-in position Pi of the drying furnace 3 receives the MEGA 1 coated with the primer by the primer coating device to a predetermined position, receives the MEGA 1 at the predetermined position, and conveys the MEGA 1 to the cassette 2. A horizontal articulated robot (hereinafter referred to as a SCARA robot) 51 and a plurality of cassettes 2 supported at the loading position Pi, respectively, and MEGA 1 held by the SCARA robot 51 are sequentially inserted and placed in the shelf 2a of the cassette 2 that supports them. The lifter 52 that is moved up and down so that it can be moved (schematically indicated by arrows in FIG. 1), and the cassette 2 in which the MEGA 1 is inserted and arranged in each shelf 2a are moved to the carry-in port 3a of the drying furnace 3 and dried. A loader 53 (schematically indicated by an arrow in FIG. 1) that is transferred to the belt conveyor 4 in the furnace 3 is provided.

  The unloading means 6 provided at the unloading position Po of the drying furnace 3 includes an unloader 60 (schematically shown by arrows in FIG. 1) for taking out the cassette 2 conveyed in the drying furnace 3 from the belt conveyor 4. A plurality of lifters (schematically shown by arrows in FIG. 2) 61 that receive the cassette 2 from the unloader 60 and support the cassette 2 so as to be movable up and down to a predetermined height, and supported by the lifters 61 at a predetermined height. A SCARA robot 62 that sequentially holds and takes out the MEGA 1 from the shelf 2a of the cassette 2 and a belt conveyor 63 on which the MEGA 1 carried out by the SCARA robot 62 is placed and sent out are provided.

  In the case of this embodiment, the return conveying means 7 is arranged in parallel with the carry-out side belt conveyor 70 on which the empty cassette 2 is transferred from the lifter 61 of the carry-out means 6 and conveys it, and outside the drying furnace 3. A belt conveyor 71 provided; and a loading-side belt conveyor 72 that transports the empty cassette 2 to a position corresponding to the lifter 52 that does not support the cassette 2 of the loading means 5 and transfers the cassette 2 to the lifter 52. Yes.

  The shelf 2a of each cassette 2 is a plate-like one that supports the entire MEGA 1. In this embodiment, the opposite front and back sides are connected to the side plate 2b, and the left and right sides of each cassette 2 are open. Thus, the MEGA 1 can be inserted and removed. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, each shelf 2 a has a power source 80, internal electrodes 81 and 82 connected to the power source 80, and internal electrodes 81 and 82 as adsorption means for adsorbing the MEGA 1 on the shelf 2 a. An electrostatic chuck 8 including a dielectric 83 that generates static electricity when a current is applied to is provided. The circuit of the electrostatic chuck 8 of each shelf 2a is connected to the control means. For example, it is turned on when the MEGA 1 is inserted and arranged on the shelf 2a, and turned off when the MEGA 1 is taken out from the shelf 2a. Be controlled.

  An electrostatic chuck 9 similar to the electrostatic chuck 8 of each shelf 2a is provided at the tip of at least one arm of the SCARA robots 51 and 62, and is configured to attract and hold the MEGA 1. . Further, the suction means 8 and 9 are not limited to electrostatic chucks. For example, a pipe connected to a vacuum pump is provided so as to open on the surface of the shelf 2a, and the suction of the shelf 2a is caused by negative pressure. Other types, such as those in which MEGA 1 is adsorbed on the surface and at the tip of at least one arm of SCARA robots 51 and 62, can also be adopted.

Next, the fuel cell manufacturing method of the present invention will be described together with its operation depending on the case of using the apparatus configured as described above.
In general, the method of the present invention is to apply a primer to a cell component 1 of a fuel cell and then dry it. The cassette 2 includes a plurality of cassettes 2 each provided with a plurality of shelves 2a for supporting the cell component 1. A drying furnace 3 for heating the cell components 1 supported on the respective shelves 2a of the cassette 2 and an inside of the furnace for transporting the cassettes 1 each supported on the respective shelves 2a within the drying furnace 3 Conveying means 4, carrying-in means 5 arranged at the carrying-in position Pi of the drying furnace 3 to support the plurality of cassettes 2 and sequentially inserting and arranging the cell components 1 on the respective shelves 2 a, and carrying-out position Po of the drying furnace 3 And a plurality of unloading means 6 that sequentially support the plurality of cassettes 2 and take out the cell components 1 from the respective shelves 2a, and transport the empty cassette 2 from the unloading position Po to the loading position Pi outside the drying furnace 3. Return transport means Are prepared in advance, a plurality of cassettes 2 are arranged at the carry-in position Pi, and cell components 1 are sequentially inserted and arranged on the shelves 2a of one of the cassettes 2 by the carry-in means 5, and a cell for each shelf 2a. The process of sequentially transporting the cassette 2 in which the component parts 1 have been inserted and disposed within the drying furnace 3 by the in-furnace transport means 4, and arranging a plurality of cassettes 2 at the unloading position Po, and the shelf of one of the cassettes 2 A step of sequentially taking out the cell components 1 dried from the primer 2a by the carry-out means 6, and a step of carrying the empty cassette 2 sequentially from the carry-out position Po to the carry-in position Pi by the return carrying means 7 outside the drying furnace 3. Are performed simultaneously.
Further, suction means 8 for sucking the cell component 1 is provided in advance on each shelf 2 a of the cassette 2, and the cell component 1 inserted and arranged on each shelf 2 a of the cassette 2 is placed on the shelf 2 a by the suction means 8. It is adsorbed on the surface.
In this embodiment as well, the case of the MEGA 1 which is easy to float by convection due to heat in the drying furnace 3 because it is particularly thin and light as a cell component for drying the applied primer will be described.

  A primer is applied in advance to the portion of the MEGA 1 that is a cell component where the gasket is integrally formed later in the primer application process. The MEGA 1 coated with the primer is placed on the belt conveyor 50, conveyed to a predetermined position, and sucked and held by the suction means 9 provided at the tip of the arm of the SCARA robot 51. At this time, the cassette 2 is supported by at least one of the plurality of lifters 52 provided at the carry-in position Pi. For example, the uppermost shelf 2a of the cassette 2 is slightly lower than the height of the arm of the SCARA robot 51, and is held at a position where the MEGA 1 can be inserted and arranged. In this state, the end of the arm of the SCARA robot 51 is driven to be inserted into the uppermost shelf 2a of the cassette 2 from the opening on the left and right sides, and the MEGA 1 that has been sucked and held by the sucking means 9 is moved to the uppermost shelf. Then, the suction by the suction means 9 is released, and the MEGA 1 is sucked onto the surface of the shelf 2a by the suction means 8 provided on the uppermost shelf 2a. At this time, the belt conveyor 50 is driven, and the MEGA 1 coated with the next primer is conveyed to a predetermined position. Subsequently, the arm of the SCARA robot 51 is pulled out from the uppermost shelf 2a, and the MEGA 1 coated with the next primer on the belt conveyor 50 is sucked and gripped, and the lifter 52 is driven to remove the arm from the cassette 2. The second shelf 2a is moved up so as to be slightly lower than the arm height of the SCARA robot 51, and then the MEGA 1 is moved to each shelf 2a of one cassette 2 in the same manner as the upper shelf 2a. Insert sequentially. Further, when the MEGA 1 is inserted and arranged in each shelf 2a of this one cassette 2, if there is a plurality of lifters 52 that do not support the cassette 2, it is applied by the carry-in side belt conveyor 72 of the return conveying means 7. The empty cassette 2 is transported to a position corresponding to the lifter 52, transferred to the lifter 52, supported, and waited. Therefore, when the SCARA robot 51 finishes sequentially inserting and arranging the MEGAs 1 in the respective shelves 2a of one cassette 2, the SCARA robot 51 immediately inserts the MEGA 1 into another cassette 2 waiting next. Can be started as well.

  The cassette 2 in which the MEGA 1 is inserted and placed in each shelf 2 a and is sucked is moved to the carry-in port 3 a of the drying furnace 3 by the loader 53 of the carrying-in means 5 and placed on the belt conveyor 4 in the drying furnace 3. The inside is conveyed over a predetermined time toward the carry-out port 3b. The inside of the drying furnace 3 is heated to a predetermined temperature, and a primer applied to a large amount of MEGA 1 supported on the entire surface of each shelf 2a of each cassette 2 while being transported through the interior of the drying furnace 3 and reaching the outlet 3b. It will be dried. The cassette 2 conveyed to the carry-out port 3b is taken out of the drying conveyor 3 from the belt conveyor 4 by the unloader 60 of the carry-out means 6 and supported by one of the plurality of lifters 61 provided at the carry-out position Po. . Then, for example, the lowermost shelf 2a is slightly lower than the arm of the SCARA robot 62, and the arm is held at a position where it can be inserted into the opening on the left and right side portions of the cassette 2 in order to take out the MEGA 1. In this state, the end of the arm of the SCARA robot 62 is driven to be inserted into the lowermost shelf 2a of the cassette 2 from the opening on the left and right sides, and the suction means 8 sucks the MEGA 1 onto the surface of the shelf 2a. Is released, and the suction means 9 at the tip of the arm of the SCARA robot 62 is attracted and gripped by the MEGA 1, and the SCARA robot 62 is driven to extract the arm from the bottom shelf 2a and position it on the belt conveyor 63. By releasing suction and gripping by the suction means 9 at the tip of the arm of the SCARA robot 62, the MEGA 1 is placed on the belt conveyor 63, and the belt conveyor 63 is driven so that the MEGA 1 dried by the primer is Remove to position. At this time, the cassette 2 is moved downward by driving the lifter 61, and the second shelf 2 a from the lowest level is moved downward so that the position is slightly lower than the height of the arm of the SCARA robot 62. Thereafter, the MEGA 1 is sequentially taken out from each shelf 2a of one cassette 2 and carried out in the same manner as the lowest shelf 2a. Further, when the MEGA 1 is taken out from each shelf 2a of this one cassette 2, if there is one that supports the cassette 2 that is already empty among the plurality of lifters 61, the carry-out side belt conveyor of the return conveying means 7 The empty cassette 2 concerning 70 is transferred, and it prepares for the support of the cassette 2 carried out from the drying furnace 3 next. Therefore, as soon as the SCARA robot 62 finishes taking out the MEGA 1 from each shelf 2a of one cassette 2, the SCARA robot 62 starts taking out the MEGA 1 from another cassette 2 that is waiting next in the same manner as the one cassette 2. Can do. Then, the empty cassette 2 transferred to the carry-out side belt conveyor 70 of the return conveyance means 7 is conveyed to the belt conveyors 71 and 72, and the lifter 52 that does not support the cassette 2 of the carry-in means 5 or next. The empty cassette 2 is transported to a position corresponding to the lifter 52 where the cassette 2 is to be carried into the drying furnace 3, transferred to the lifter 51 of the loading means 5, or waited for transfer.

  In the above description, the contents of each process have been described in order with one cassette 2 as the center. However, in the method of the present invention, each process is performed simultaneously on a plurality of cassettes 2 in parallel. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently dry the primer applied to a large amount of the cell component parts 1 necessary for constituting the fuel cell, and to integrally mold the gaskets on each of them.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the cell component 1 is MEGA has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and the cell component 1 may be an MEA, a separator, or MEGA. The present invention can also be applied to the case where a gasket is formed integrally with a separator laminate.

  1: MEGA (cell component), 2: cassette, 2a: shelf, 3: drying furnace, 4: in-furnace transport means, 5: carry-in means, 6: carry-out means, 7: return transport means, 8: adsorption means, Pi: loading position, Po: loading position,

Claims (4)

A fuel cell manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a fuel cell by drying a primer applied to a cell component of the fuel cell,
A plurality of cassettes provided with a plurality of shelves for supporting the cell components;
A drying furnace for heating the cell components supported on the respective shelves of the cassette;
In-furnace transport means for transporting a cassette in which the cell components are supported on each shelf inside the drying furnace,
Carrying-in means for sequentially inserting and arranging the cell components on the shelves of a plurality of cassettes arranged at the carrying-in position of the drying furnace;
Carrying-out means for sequentially taking out the cell components from the shelves of a plurality of cassettes arranged at the carrying-out position of the drying furnace;
An apparatus for manufacturing a fuel cell, comprising: a return transport unit configured to transport an empty cassette from the carry-out position to the carry-in position outside the drying furnace.   2. The fuel cell manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each shelf of the cassette is provided with an adsorbing means for adsorbing the cell components. A method for producing a fuel cell, wherein a primer is applied to a cell component of the fuel cell and then dried.
A plurality of cassettes provided with a plurality of stages of shelves for supporting the cell component parts, a drying furnace for heating the cell component parts supported respectively on the shelves of the cassette, and each shelf inside the drying furnace, respectively In-furnace transport means for transporting the cassette on which the cell component parts are supported, carry-in means for sequentially inserting and arranging the cell component parts on each shelf of a plurality of cassettes arranged at the carry-in position of the drying furnace, Carry-out means for sequentially taking out the cell components from the shelves of a plurality of cassettes arranged at the carry-out position of the drying furnace, and return conveyance for carrying an empty cassette from the carry-out position to the carry-in position outside the dry furnace Means in advance,
A step of arranging a plurality of cassettes at the loading position and sequentially inserting and arranging cell components on the shelf of one of the cassettes by the loading means;
A step of sequentially transporting cassettes in which insertion of cell components to each shelf is completed, inside the drying furnace by means of in-furnace transport means;
A step of arranging a plurality of cassettes at the unloading position and sequentially taking out the cell components from which the primer is dried from the shelf of one of the cassettes by the unloading means;
A method of manufacturing a fuel cell, comprising simultaneously performing a step of sequentially transporting empty cassettes outside the drying furnace from the carry-out position to the carry-in position by the return transport means.   4. The fuel cell according to claim 3, wherein an adsorption means for adsorbing the cell component is provided in advance on each shelf of the cassette, and the cell component inserted and arranged on each shelf of the cassette is adsorbed. Production method.

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