JP2011165504A - Jig for drying, drying device, and drying method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a jig for drying capable of drying materials without using a chamber, a drying device which uses the jig, and a drying method for the jig. <P>SOLUTION: The drying device is equipped with an air-supply and exhaustion mechanism 2, having an air-supply and exhaustion unit 2a for supplying and exhaust air into a plurality of drying materials, and an air-supply and exhaustion connecting port terminal 2c connected to the air-supply and exhaustion unit 2a; a support mechanism 3 which is a mounting unit 3a, having a plurality of drying materials mounted thereon and a support portion 3b for removably supporting the air-supply and exhaustion mechanism 2; and a plurality of heaters 4, allocated to respectively clip each of the drying materials on the mounting unit 3a, and to be respectively brought into contact with the opposite sides of the drying materials. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a drying jig, a drying apparatus, and a drying method, and more particularly, to a drying jig, a drying apparatus, and a drying method for battery cells having a non-aqueous electrolyte.

  Normally, the non-aqueous electrolyte used for battery cells reacts when moisture is mixed in, and the energy density during discharge decreases, so the member that contacts the non-aqueous electrolyte when manufacturing battery cells Need to be dried.

  In general, as a method of drying an object, it is known that the inside of a chamber is depressurized or vacuumed and the object to be dried is dried while being heated (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  As shown in FIG. 9, the drying apparatus 101 described in Patent Document 1 reduces the pressure in a chamber 102 by a vacuum pump 103 or a vacuum state, and places an object 105 to be dried on a heater 104 provided in the chamber 102. Drying by contact.

JP 2008-84566 A

  However, in the drying apparatus 101 described in Patent Document 1, when the plurality of objects to be dried 105 are collectively dried, a large chamber 102 having a large volume that can store the plurality of objects to be dried 105 is required. The volume of the chamber 102 that is depressurized or evacuated while heating is increased and takes time.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a drying jig, a drying apparatus, and a drying method that can be dried without using a chamber.

  In order to achieve the above object, a drying jig of the present invention has a supply / exhaust port for supplying and discharging gas into and from a plurality of objects to be dried and a supply / exhaust connection port terminal connected to the supply / exhaust unit. An exhaust mechanism unit, a mounting unit on which a plurality of objects to be dried are mounted, a support mechanism unit that removably supports the air supply / exhaust mechanism unit, and the object to be dried on the mounting unit A plurality of heaters are provided so as to sandwich each of the heaters and are in contact with the opposing surfaces of the object to be dried.

  In addition, the drying apparatus of the present invention can store the drying jig according to claim 1 and can be connected to the supply / exhaust connection port terminal and the power supply connection port terminal of the drying jig. A storage unit provided with each port; an adjustment unit provided with at least a vacuum pump having an exhaust adjustment valve connectable to the supply / exhaust connection port of the storage unit; and at least the vacuum pump of the adjustment unit And a controllable control unit.

  Further, the drying method of the present invention includes a supply / exhaust mechanism unit having a supply / exhaust unit that supplies and discharges gas into and from a plurality of objects to be dried, a supply / exhaust connection port terminal connected to the supply / exhaust unit, Installed so as to sandwich each of the objects to be dried on the placement part, and a support mechanism part having a placing part on which the object to be dried is placed and a support part that removably supports the air supply / exhaust mechanism part And a drying jig provided with a plurality of heaters that respectively contact the opposite surfaces of the object to be dried, and the drying jig can be housed, and the supply / exhaust connection port terminal and the power connection port of the drying jig Adjustment provided with at least a vacuum pump having a storage part provided with a supply / exhaust connection port and a power supply connection port each connectable to a terminal, and an exhaust adjustment valve connectable with the supply / exhaust connection port of the storage part And a drying device that includes at least a control unit that can control the vacuum pump of the adjustment unit, and a drying object installation step of providing the drying object between the heaters of the drying jig, An air supply / exhaust portion connecting step of connecting the air supply / exhaust portion of the air supply / exhaust mechanism portion to the object to be dried, and the air supply / exhaust connection port terminal and the power supply connection port terminal of the drying jig are stored in the drying apparatus. A storage step of connecting and storing each of the air supply / exhaust connection port and the power supply connection port, heating the object to be dried by the heater, and exhausting the object to be dried by the vacuum pump of the drying device And an evacuation step and a drying end step of stopping the evacuation by the vacuum pump and stopping the power supply from the power connection port.

  The present invention provides a drying jig, a drying apparatus, and a drying method that can be dried without using a chamber.

The perspective view of a general battery cell. The perspective view of the jig for drying which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. The schematic diagram of the drying apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. Schematic of the storage part of the drying apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the drying method which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the state which installed the to-be-dried object except the air supply / exhaust part of the drying jig shown in FIG. The schematic diagram of the drying apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the drying method which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. Schematic of the conventional drying apparatus.

  Hereinafter, a drying jig, a drying apparatus, and a drying method according to embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a drying jig, a drying apparatus, and a drying method for drying a battery cell will be described as an example.

(First embodiment)
First, the structure of the battery cell 5 which is a to-be-dried object is demonstrated using FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the battery cell 5 includes a positive electrode 5 a, a negative electrode 5 b, a separator 5 c, and a rectangular body structure 5 d that houses a nonaqueous electrolytic solution containing an organic solvent. The housing 5d has a first side surface 5d1 having a large area and a second side surface 5d2 having a smaller area than the first side surface 5d1, a bottom surface 5d3, and an upper surface 5d4. The upper surface 5d4 is provided with an electrolytic injection port 5e, a gas exhaust port 5f, a positive electrode terminal 5g connected to the positive electrode 5a, and a negative electrode terminal 5h connected to the negative electrode 5b.

  Next, the drying jig 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the drying jig 1 includes a supply / exhaust mechanism unit 2 that can supply or exhaust gas into the plurality of battery cells 5 and a mounting unit on which the plurality of battery cells 5 are mounted. 3a and a support mechanism 3 having a support 3b that supports the air supply / exhaust mechanism 2 and a plurality of heaters 4 for heating the battery cells 5.

  The air supply / exhaust mechanism 2 is for supplying or exhausting gas into the plurality of battery cells 5, and is composed of an air supply / exhaust part 2a, a connection part 2b, and a supply / exhaust connection port terminal 2c. The air supply / exhaust part 2a has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped structure in which the inside is hollow, and a plurality of connection parts 2b that can contact and separate from each of the gas exhaust ports 5f of the plurality of battery cells 5 are provided on the lower surface, Also, at one end, a supply / exhaust connection port terminal 2c communicating with the supply / exhaust section 2a is provided. In addition, the structure of the air supply / exhaust part 2a is not limited to a substantially rectangular parallelepiped structure, and may be any structure such as a cylinder or a polygonal column structure.

  The connecting part 2b connects the air supply / exhaust part 2a and the gas exhaust port 5f of the battery cell 5 respectively. When the battery cell 5 is placed on the mounting part 3a, the gas exhaust port 5f of the battery cell 5 is connected. It is provided so as to coincide with the position. Moreover, when making the inside of the battery cell 5 into a pressure reduction or a vacuum state, or when supplying gas into the battery cell 5, it carries out through this.

  The supply / exhaust connection port terminal 2c can collectively reduce the pressure in the plurality of battery cells 5 and the supply / exhaust portion 2a.

  The support mechanism unit 3 is configured in an L-shaped structure having a mounting unit 3a on which a plurality of battery cells 5 are mounted and a support unit 3b that removably supports the air supply / exhaust mechanism unit 2.

  The mounting portion 3a is formed in such a length that the upper surfaces 5d4 of the plurality of battery cells 5 can be placed at a predetermined interval, and is slightly larger than the width of the first side surface 5d1 of the battery cells 5. It is formed in width. The upper surface of the mounting part 3a is formed in a flat surface so that the battery cell 5 can be mounted stably.

  The support portion 3b extends at a right angle in the upward direction at one end of the placement portion 3a, and a projection portion 3c for removably supporting the air supply / exhaust mechanism portion 2 is provided on the inner side surface thereof.

  The protrusion 3c is for supporting the air supply / exhaust mechanism 2 in a state where the air supply / exhaust 2a is connected to the plurality of battery cells 5. In the present embodiment, the protrusion 3c is supported by two pentagonal prism members. However, as long as it is possible to support the air supply / exhaust mechanism 2, the number of the protrusions 3c may be one or more than three, and the shape of the protrusions 3c may be any shape such as a cylinder or a polygonal column. It may be.

  The plurality of heaters 4 are installed on the upper surface of the mounting portion 3a with a space between each other, and the battery cells 5 are respectively provided therebetween. That is, the heater 4 is provided so as to alternate with the plurality of battery cells 5. Each of the heaters 4 has a rectangular parallelepiped structure that is the same as that of the battery cell 5 and is formed in substantially the same size. When the battery cell 5 is disposed between the heaters 4, the side surface of the heater 4 and the battery The first side surface 5d1 of the cell 5 is in contact with it.

  The heater 4 is desirably provided so as to heat the widest first side surface 5d1 of the battery cell 5, but is not limited thereto as long as the battery cell 5 can be heated. The structure of the heater 4 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped structure in the present embodiment, but is not limited to this structure. For example, if the first side surface 5d1 of the battery cell 5 is a curved surface, the structure corresponding to the curved surface is used. May be.

  A power connection port terminal 3e for supplying power to the plurality of heaters 4 is provided on the other end surface 3d of the mounting portion 3a. The power connection port terminal 3e is formed in a convex quadrangular prism.

  The power connection port terminal 3e is provided on the other end surface 3d in this embodiment, but may be provided on any surface such as both side surfaces of the other end surface 3d as long as it can supply power to the heater 4. In the present embodiment, the power connection port terminal 3e has a convex quadrangular prism structure, but is not limited thereto, and may have a concave shape, or may have a structure such as a cylinder or a polygonal pyramid.

  Next, the drying apparatus 10 which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG.3 and FIG.4. As shown in FIG. 3, the drying apparatus 10 includes a storage unit 11 that can store the plurality of drying jigs 1 having the above-described configuration, an adjustment unit 14 that adjusts the plurality of drying jigs 1 to a reduced pressure or a vacuum state, and an adjustment. And a control unit 16 for controlling the unit.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the storage unit 11 has a shelf shape for storing a plurality of drying jigs 1, and each shelf has a space in which one of the drying jigs 1 can be stored. Further, each shelf is connected to the supply / exhaust connection port terminal 2c of the drying jig 1 to connect the supply / exhaust connection port 12 for exhausting the battery cell 5 and the power supply connection port terminal 3e. A power supply connection port 13 for supplying the power is provided. In addition, each shelf of the storage unit 11 may be a space capable of storing a plurality of drying jigs 1 as well as one drying jig 1.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the adjustment unit 14 is a vacuum pump 15 having an exhaust adjustment valve 15a for reducing the pressure in the supply / exhaust mechanism 2 of the plurality of battery cells 5 and the plurality of drying jigs 1 or in a vacuum state. Is provided, and the control unit 16 performs pressure reduction or vacuum control.

  Next, a drying method by the drying apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of battery cells 5 are respectively installed between the plurality of heaters 4 in the drying jig 1 (step S <b> 1), and the connection portion 2 b of the air supply / exhaust mechanism 2 of the drying jig 1. Are respectively connected to the gas exhaust ports 5f of the battery cells 5 (step S2).

  Next, the drying jig 1 in which the battery cell 5 is installed is stored in each shelf of the storage unit 11 of the drying apparatus 10, and the supply / exhaust connection port terminal 2 c and the power connection port terminal 3 e of the drying jig 1 are dried. Each is connected to the supply / exhaust connection port 12 and the power supply connection port 13 of the apparatus 10 (step S3).

  Thereafter, power is supplied from the power supply connection port 13 to the power supply connection port terminal 3e by the control unit 16 to heat the heater 4 of the drying jig 1 (step S4), for example, inside the battery cell 5 and the drying jig 1 When the vacuum state is established, the temperature is about 150 to 160 ° C. When the vacuum state is established, the exhaust gas is exhausted after a lapse of a predetermined time to reach a temperature lower than the temperature when the vacuum state is established (step S5). The regulating valve 15a is opened, and the inside of the battery cell 5 and the supply / exhaust part 2a of the drying jig 1 are exhausted by the vacuum pump 15 (step S6).

  Then, after exhausting for a certain time (step S7), the exhaust regulating valve 15a is closed to stop the exhaust, and at the same time, the power supply from the power connection port 13 is stopped to finish the drying (step S8).

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the drying jig 1 is provided with the battery cell 5 between the heaters 4, the connection part 2 b of the air supply / exhaust mechanism part 2 is connected to the battery cell 5, and the storage part 11 of the drying apparatus 10. The drying jig 1 is stored in each shelf, and the supply / exhaust connection port terminal 2c and the power supply connection port terminal 3e of the drying jig 1 are connected to the supply / exhaust connection port 12 provided on each shelf of the storage unit 11 with power supply. The heater 4 of the drying jig 1 is connected to each of the ports 13 to heat the first side surface 5d1 in contact with the battery cell 55 directly. Drying is performed by reducing the pressure in the supply / exhaust portion 2a in the drying jig 1 or in a vacuum state. Therefore, the battery cell 5 can be dried in a short time by the drying jig 1 and the drying apparatus 10 using the drying jig 1 without using a chamber in which the entire battery cell 5 is heated or decompressed or vacuumed.

(Second Embodiment)
A drying jig, a drying apparatus, and a drying method according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that a gas supply unit 17 and a gas dehydration unit 18 are further provided in the adjustment unit 14 of the drying apparatus 20, and the components have the same configuration. . Therefore, in the following description, the description of the same components as in the first embodiment will be omitted, and the drying device 20 using the drying jig 1 and the drying method will be described.

  First, the drying apparatus 20 will be described with reference to FIG. The gas supply unit 17 includes a gas regulating valve 17a, and opens the gas regulating valve 17a so that an inert gas such as Ar (argon) is heated in the battery cell 5 and the drying jig 1. The air supply / exhaust mechanism 2 is connected to the air supply / exhaust connection port 12 via a gas regulating valve 17a.

  The gas dehydrating unit 18 is connected to the vacuum pump 15 and the gas supply unit 17. The gas dehydrating unit 18 collects the inert gas containing moisture discharged from the vacuum pump 15, dehydrates the moisture in the inert gas, and again A gas is supplied to the gas supply unit 17. Dehydration methods include, for example, a method of concentrating by cooling an inert gas, a method of bringing an inert gas into contact with a hygroscopic solid, an adsorbent solid, or a liquid, and reducing the saturation humidity by compressing the inert gas. And a method of evacuating an inert gas through a polymer semipermeable membrane.

  Further, the gas dehydrating unit 18 includes a water-containing gas regulating valve 18a. When the gas other than the inert gas is discharged from the first line 18b and the inert gas containing moisture is recovered, the gas dehydrating unit 18 The second line 18c can be switched so that it can be recovered in the interior 18.

  Next, a drying method by the drying apparatus 20 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  After performing steps S1 to S7 of the first embodiment, the exhaust adjustment valve 15a of the vacuum pump 15 is closed to stop the exhaust, the gas adjustment valve 17a of the gas supply unit 17 is opened, and the heater 4 is overheated. The heated inert gas is supplied into the battery cell 5 and the supply / exhaust mechanism 2 of the drying jig 1. (Step S9).

  Then, after a predetermined time has elapsed since the pressure of the inert gas in the battery cell 5 has reached a predetermined value (step S10), the gas adjustment valve 17a of the gas supply unit 17 is closed, and the exhaust adjustment valve of the vacuum pump 15 15a is opened and the inert gas is exhausted after the water-containing gas regulating valve 18a of the gas dehydrating unit 18 is switched so that the inert gas passes through the second line 18c. Thereby, the inert gas becomes a heat transfer medium, and the inside of the battery cell 5 can be heated in a shorter time than in the first embodiment, and further, the moisture in the battery cell 5 can be included in the inert gas and discharged.

  The exhausted inert gas is recovered to the gas dehydrating unit 18, and then the water-containing gas regulating valve 18a of the gas dehydrating unit 18 is switched to close the second line 18c, dehydrating moisture in the inert gas, The dehydrated inert gas is supplied to the gas supply unit 17 (step S11).

  After repeating steps S9 to S11 about 5 to 6 times (step S12), the exhaust adjustment valve 15a of the vacuum pump 15 is closed to stop the exhaust, and at the same time, the power supply to the power connection port 13 is also stopped to dry. Finish (step S13).

  As mentioned above, according to 2nd Embodiment, after providing the gas supply part 17 in the adjustment part 14 of the drying apparatus 20, and making the inside of the to-be-dried object 5 pressure-reduced or a vacuum state, it was heated from the gas supply part 17 and inactive Drying without using a chamber is performed by supplying a gas into the object to be dried 5, and again drying the interior of the object to be dried 5 under reduced pressure or vacuum to discharge the inert gas a plurality of times. And can be dried more efficiently than the first embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Drying jig 2 ... Supply / exhaust mechanism part 2a ... Supply / exhaust part 2b ... Connection part 2c ... Supply / exhaust connection port terminal 3 ... Support mechanism part 3a ... Mounting part 3b ... Support part 3c ... Protrusion part 3d ... End surface 3e ... Power connection port terminals 4, 104 ... heater 5 ... battery cell 5a ... positive electrode 5b ... negative electrode 5c ... separator 5d ... casing 5d1 ... first side surface 5d2 ... second side surface 5d3 ... bottom surface 5d4 ... top surface 5e ... electrolytic inlet 5f ... gas Exhaust port 5g ... Positive electrode terminal 5h ... Negative electrode terminal 10, 101 ... Drying device 11 ... Storage unit 12 ... Supply / exhaust connection port 13 ... Power supply connection port 14 ... Adjustment unit 15, 103 ... Vacuum pump 15a ... Exhaust adjustment valve 16 ... Control unit 17 ... Gas supply unit 17a ... Gas regulating valve 18 ... Gas dehydrating unit 18a ... Water-containing gas regulating valve 18b ... First line 18c ... Second line 102 ... Chamber 105 ... To-be-dried object

Claims (8)

A supply / exhaust mechanism having a supply / exhaust unit for supplying and discharging gas into and from the plurality of objects to be dried and a supply / exhaust connection port terminal connected to the supply / exhaust unit;
A support mechanism portion having a placement portion on which a plurality of objects to be dried are placed and a support portion that removably supports the air supply / exhaust mechanism portion;
A plurality of heaters installed on the placement unit so as to sandwich each of the objects to be dried, and in contact with the opposing surfaces of the objects to be dried;
A drying jig characterized by comprising:   Furthermore, the said air supply / exhaust part has a connection part which can contact / separate to the said to-be-dried object, The jig for drying of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. A storage unit that can store the drying jig according to claim 1 and is provided with a supply / exhaust connection port and a power connection port that can be connected to the supply / exhaust connection port terminal and the power connection port terminal of the drying jig, respectively. When,
An adjustment unit provided with at least a vacuum pump having an exhaust adjustment valve connectable to the supply / exhaust connection port of the storage unit;
A control unit capable of at least controlling the vacuum pump of the adjustment unit;
A drying apparatus comprising:   4. The drying apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a gas supply unit having a gas adjusting valve for controlling an inert gas into the object to be dried.   Further, the adjustment unit recovers the inert gas exhausted by the vacuum pump, dehydrates the moisture in the inert gas, and supplies the dehydrated inert gas to the gas supply unit. The drying apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a gas dehydrating unit having a regulating valve. A supply / exhaust unit having a supply / exhaust unit for supplying and discharging gas into / from a plurality of objects to be dried and a supply / exhaust connection port terminal connected to the supply / exhaust unit, and a mounting on which the objects to be dried are mounted A support mechanism unit having a support unit that removably supports the mounting unit and the air supply / exhaust mechanism unit, and the above-described mounting unit is disposed so as to sandwich each of the objects to be dried, and is opposed to the object to be dried A drying jig comprising a plurality of heaters each contacting the surface;
A storage section that can store the drying jig and is provided with a supply / exhaust connection port and a power connection port that can be connected to the supply / exhaust connection port terminal and the power connection port terminal of the drying jig, and the storage section A drying unit comprising: an adjustment unit provided with at least a vacuum pump having an exhaust adjustment valve connectable to the supply / exhaust connection port; and a control unit capable of controlling at least the vacuum pump of the adjustment unit;
Have
A to-be-dried object installation step for providing the to-be-dried object between the heaters of the drying jig;
An air supply / exhaust part connecting step of connecting the air supply / exhaust part of the air supply / exhaust mechanism part to the object to be dried;
A storing step of storing the supply / exhaust connection port terminal and the power supply connection port terminal of the drying jig connected to the supply / exhaust connection port and the power supply connection port of the storage unit of the drying device, respectively,
An exhausting step of heating the object to be dried by the heater and exhausting the object to be dried by the vacuum pump of the drying device;
A drying end step of stopping the exhaust by the vacuum pump and stopping the power supply from the power connection port;
The drying method characterized by including. Further, after the exhausting step, a gas supply step of supplying an inert gas heated from the gas supply unit of the drying device into the object to be dried;
A gas exhaust step of exhausting inert gas by the vacuum pump;
The drying method according to claim 5, comprising:   Furthermore, the gas dehydration step of collecting the inert gas exhausted in the gas exhausting step in the gas dehydrating unit, dehydrating the moisture in the inert gas, and supplying the dehydrated inert gas to the gas supply unit The drying method according to claim 7, comprising:

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