JP2016072050A - Assembly device and assembly method of battery pack - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an assembly device which reduces workload when assembling the upper case of a battery pack for the lower case from above, while preventing the upper case from dropping.SOLUTION: An assembly hand 7 suspended from a transport mother machine and supported in place is provided with a suction pad 11, a push pad 12 and a positioning pin 13, and then an upper case 4 is assembled to a mating lower case, while being suction held by them. The assembly hand 7 is provided with an anti-drop mechanism 16 including a stopper plate 19, capable of lifting and rotating, as a main element. The stopper plate 19 of the anti-drop mechanism 16 is inserted into an opening 6 formed in the upper case 4, and engaged therewith, thus preventing the dropping of the upper case 4 from the assembly hand 7 during transport.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an assembling apparatus and assembling method for a battery pack mounted on an electric vehicle or the like.

  2. Description of the Related Art An electric vehicle (EV) and a hybrid vehicle (HEV) that are provided with a drive motor and a battery pack that supplies electric power to the drive motor are known. As a battery pack for such an electric vehicle, a lower battery with an open upper surface (unit battery, or a battery cell in which a plurality of unit cells are connected in parallel) is connected in series. A battery case housed and packed in a battery case composed of an upper case (upper case) that closes the upper surface opening of the lower case and the lower case is used. In this case, in consideration of workability at the time of maintenance, a service plug for manually releasing a part of the series connection of the plurality of unit cells is provided, and the service plug is attached to a part of the upper surface of the upper housing. A device provided with a rectangular opening for operation is known, for example, in Patent Document 1 and the like.

  By the way, when assembling the battery pack as described above, an assembled battery in which a plurality of unit cells are connected in series is usually placed inside a lower casing whose upper part is open, and then the upper casing is mounted on the lower casing. The battery pack is made by closing the upper surface opening of the lower housing by assembling it according to the position of the upper surface opening of the body.

JP 2012-224252 A

  However, a large battery pack used for an electric vehicle or the like is large in size, and accordingly, the casing is also enlarged and the weight of the upper casing is increased. For this reason, in the battery pack assembling process, there is a problem that the work load until the upper housing is moved and positioned to a position matched with the upper surface opening of the lower housing containing the assembled battery is large. For this reason, the work load when the upper housing is assembled to the lower housing can be reduced, and at the same time, the upper housing can be assembled accurately and stably to the lower housing. An assembling apparatus having a simple configuration has been desired.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such a problem, and in assembling the large battery pack as described above, the work load when positioning by moving the upper housing relative to the lower housing is reduced. A battery pack assembling apparatus and an assembling method that can be reduced are provided.

  The present invention includes a bottomed bottom casing having an open top surface, an assembled battery composed of an assembly of a plurality of unit cells accommodated in the lower casing, and the lower casing closed. When assembling a battery pack comprising an upper casing that covers and forms a battery casing together with the lower casing, the upper casing is positioned and supported in advance by an assembly hand that is suspended and supported by the transport mother machine. Therefore, it is assumed that the upper casing is assembled from above with respect to the lower casing in which the assembled battery is accommodated.

  In this case, for example, a hoist or an articulated arm type assisting device is assumed as the transport mother machine.

  An opening is formed in the upper surface of the upper casing, while the assembly hand is provided with a suction means that is provided in the hand body and sucks and supports the upper surface of the upper casing, and the hand. It is assumed that a rotatable rod member provided so as to be directed in the vertical direction on the main body and an engaging means provided at the lower end portion of the rod member are provided.

  In addition, in a state where the suction means sucks and supports the upper casing, the engaging means enters the lower side from the opening of the upper casing and engages with the periphery of the opening in a plan view. On the other hand, after the upper casing is assembled to the lower casing and before the suction support of the upper casing by the suction means is released, the rod member is rotated to open the opening by the engaging means. The engagement state with respect to the periphery of the part is released.

  Here, the engagement means is provided in the case where the upper casing that is sucked and supported by the assembly hand should collapse, and the upper side from the assembly hand is engaged with the periphery of the opening. It will function as means for preventing the casing from falling.

  According to the present invention, the upper casing that is suction supported by the assembly hand that is suspended and supported by the transport mother machine is transferred and assembled onto the lower casing. In addition to reducing the work load during assembly, the upper housing can be assembled to the lower housing accurately and stably with a relatively simple structure, improving workability. Can contribute. In addition, since the opening formed in the upper housing is effectively used to switch between engagement and disengagement by the engagement means, the assembled hand is engaged with the engagement state by the engagement means. It is possible to prevent the upper casing of the camera from dropping, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a secondary problem due to the fall while improving safety.

The schematic perspective view which shows an example of the battery pack used as the assembly object in the battery pack assembly apparatus which concerns on this invention. The disassembled perspective view of the battery pack shown in FIG. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows 1st Embodiment of the battery pack assembly apparatus based on this invention, and is plane explanatory drawing of an assembly | attachment hand. Front explanatory drawing of the assembly hand shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a left side explanatory view of the assembly hand shown in FIG. 3. It is a figure which shows the detail of the fall prevention mechanism attached to the assembly | attachment hand shown to FIGS. 3-5, and is sectional explanatory drawing along the BB line of FIG. Similarly it is a figure which shows the detail of a fall prevention mechanism, and is sectional explanatory drawing along the AA of FIG.

  1 to 7 show a more specific form for carrying out the battery pack assembling apparatus according to the present invention. In particular, FIG. 1 shows a schematic perspective view as an example of a battery pack for an electric vehicle, and FIG. An exploded perspective view of the battery pack is shown.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the battery pack 1 includes a plurality of unit cells (single cells or single cells) in a battery case 2 including a lower case 3 as a lower case and an upper case 4 as an upper case. A unit battery in which a plurality of single cells are connected in series or in parallel, and may also be referred to as a battery module.) A battery pack 5 in which 5a is stacked and connected in series is housed and packed. In the battery housing 2, a battery controller, a battery junction box, and the like (not shown) are housed together with the assembled battery 5 as accessory devices. In addition, a rectangular or rectangular opening 6 for attaching a service plug (also referred to as a service disconnect switch) later is formed in a window shape at the center of the upper surface of the upper case 4 in advance.

  The lower case 3 as the lower housing and the upper case 4 as the upper housing are rectangular and bottomed, for example, formed by press-molding a steel plate or the like into a three-dimensional shape. As shown in FIG. After the opened lower case 3 is positioned and placed in a horizontal position at a predetermined position such as a table, the unit batteries 5a, which are constituent elements of the assembled battery 5, are arranged in the lower case 3 while being stacked. Stores accessory equipment. Then, the upper case 4 is placed on the lower case 3 and both peripheral flange portions 3a, 4a are brought into contact with each other to close the lower case 3, so that the battery case 2 including the lower case 3 and the upper case 4 is removed. A battery pack 1 as a shell is constructed.

  A seal member (not shown) is interposed between the peripheral flange portions 3 a and 4 a of the lower case 3 and the upper case 4. Also, if the relative positioning of both the peripheral flange portions 3a and 4a of the lower case 3 and the upper case 4 is performed by abutting each other, the peripheral flange portions 3a and 4a are fastened and connected by bolts and nuts (not shown). As a result, the battery casing 2 is integrated.

  Here, the assembling work of the upper case 4 with respect to the lower case 3 is performed using a predetermined assembling hand, and details of the assembling hand 7 are shown in FIGS. More specifically, after the upper cover 4 waiting in a downward position as shown in FIG. 2 is sucked and supported by the assembly hand 7 at a predetermined position, the assembled battery 5 and the like are stored in advance. The upper cover 4 is transported to just above the lower cover 3 and slowly lowered at that position to position the upper cover 4 on the lower cover 3. FIG. 3 is an explanatory plan view of the assembly hand 7, and FIG. Front explanatory drawing and FIG. 5 have shown the left side explanatory drawing, respectively.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the assembly hand 7 has a rectangular frame-shaped hand body 8 including a cross-shaped reinforcing bar 9 as a main element, and the hand body 8 is connected to eyebolts at four corners on the upper surface. The wire 10 is suspended and supported by a winch (not shown) which is a transport mother machine.

  The hand main body 8 is provided with a plurality of suction pads 11 as a suction means (seven in the present embodiment in plan view) and a plurality of pressing pads 12 as well as a pair of front and rear positioning pins 13. Is provided. The suction pad 11 is a so-called suction cup formed in a cup shape with a flexible rubber material or the like, and is sometimes referred to as a vacuum cup or a suction cup. As a result, when the upper cover 4 is sucked and supported by the assembly hand 7, the positioning pins 13 are similarly moved while pressing the plurality of suction pads 11 and the pressing pads 12 against predetermined positions on the upper surface of the upper cover 4. By engaging with the positioning hole on the upper surface of the upper cover 4, the hand body 8 and the upper cover 4 are relatively positioned, and in this state, the suction pad 11 is generated to suck the upper cover 4. Can be supported.

  The pair of positioning pins 13 function as positioning means for relative positioning of the assembly hand 7 and the upper cover 4, and as a positioning hole on the other side, for example, the peripheral flange portion 4 a (see FIG. 2) of the upper cover 4. The bolt holes etc. formed in the reference) are used.

  In addition, a pair of long steady bars 14 hang downward from one long side of the hand body 8 and a pair of long steady bars from the other long side. A locating pin 15 that also serves as a stub is suspended downward. The steady bar 14 and the locating pin 15 are urged downward by an elastic means such as a compression coil spring (not shown) and can be expanded and contracted under the stroke S in FIG. The steady bar 14 and the locating pin 15 are close to the outer edge of the upper cover 4 attracted by the hand main body 8, so that the upper cover during the transport operation of the upper cover 4 supported by the assembled hand 8 is supported. 4 has a function of suppressing the shake of 4.

  As the name suggests, the locating pin 15 engages the locating hole in the peripheral flange portion a on the lower cover 4 side when the upper cover 4 attracted and supported by the assembly hand 7 is brought closer to the lower cover 3 from above. By combining, the relative positioning of the assembling hand 7 and the lower cover 3 and the relative positioning of the lower cover 3 and the upper cover 4 via the assembling hand 7 can be performed. In addition, as the locate hole, a bolt hole or the like formed in the peripheral flange portion 3a (see FIG. 2) on the lower cover 3 side is used. Thereby, the locate pin 15 functions as a positioning means for relative positioning of the assembly hand 7 and the lower case 3.

  In the hand main body 8, substantially at the center position in the plan view of FIG. 3, more specifically, in the opening 6 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) formed in the upper cover 4 that the assembly hand 7 sucks and supports. At a corresponding position, a fall prevention mechanism 16 for preventing the upper cover 4 from dropping from the assembly hand 7 is provided. The fall prevention mechanism 16 is configured such that the upper cover 4 is dropped from the assembly hand 7 due to, for example, collapse of the load due to a suction failure of the suction pad 11 or the like while the upper cover 4 supported by the assembly hand 7 is sucked and supported. It is provided to prevent this.

  FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 7 as a plan view of the fall prevention mechanism 16, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the fall prevention mechanism 16 has an outer pipe 17 in which an inner pipe 18 as a rod member is inserted so as to be capable of relative movement and relative rotation in the axial direction. 8 is fixed in an upright posture to a reinforcing bar 9 forming a part of 8. A stopper plate 19 which is a plate-like member as an engaging member is fixed to the lower end of the inner pipe 18. The stopper plate 19 can be moved up and down together with the inner pipe 18 and can be rotated.

  The stopper plate 19 has a similar rectangular or rectangular shape that is slightly smaller than the opening 6 so that the stopper plate 19 can be inserted below the rectangular or rectangular opening 6 of the upper case 4 shown in FIGS. A plurality of protective pieces 20b made of resin are fixed on the upper surface of the metal plate body 20a. The stopper plate 19 is set such that the length of the long side portion is shorter than the length of the long side portion of the opening 6 and is longer than the length of the short side portion of the opening 6. The length of the side portion is set shorter than the length of the short side portion of the opening 6.

  A groove cam 21 is formed along the longitudinal direction of the outer pipe 17, and an operation lever 22 protruding from the groove cam 21 is connected to the inner pipe 18. Therefore, by moving the operation lever 22 along the groove cam 21, the inner pipe 18 moves in the axial direction (vertical direction) relative to the outer pipe 17 or rotates in the circumferential direction according to the cam displacement of the groove cam 21. You can do that. As a result, in the state where the assembly hand 7 is supporting the upper case 4 by suction, the inner pipe 18 is lowered or raised with respect to the outer pipe 17 as will be described later, thereby opening the upper case 4. 6, the stopper plate 19 can be inserted into or removed from the inside.

  As shown in FIG. 7, a lock groove 21c is formed at the end of a lower horizontal groove 21b bent from the lower end of the vertical groove 21a in the groove cam 21 formed in the outer pipe 17, and an operation lever 22 is provided in the lock groove 21c. The state of being locked down (locked position Q1) is an engaging position (engaged state) P1 of a stopper plate 19 to be described later, while the operating lever 22 is positioned at the intersection of the vertical groove 21a and the lower horizontal groove 21b. The unlocked state (unlocked position Q2) is the engagement release position (disengaged state) P2 of the stopper plate 19. The angle formed by the engagement position P1 and the engagement release position P2 (the angle formed by the lock position Q1 and the unlock position Q2 of the operation lever 22) is set to 90 degrees in the circumferential direction of the outer pipe 17. Further, a retraction groove 21e is formed at the end of the upper horizontal groove 21d bent from the upper end of the vertical groove 21a, and the state where the operation lever 22 falls into the retraction groove 21e and is retraction locked (retraction lock position Q3) is a stopper. The retreat position of the plate 19 is set.

  When the operation lever 22 is in the lock position Q1 as described above, the stopper plate 19 is in the engagement position P1 in FIG. 6, and in this state, the length of the stopper plate 19 connected to the lower end of the inner pipe 18 is increased. When the direction is directed to the short side direction of the opening 6 and the operation lever 22 is at the unlock position Q2, the stopper plate 19 is at the disengagement position P2 in FIG. Is set so as to be oriented in the longitudinal direction of the opening 6. Further, when the operation lever 22 is at the retraction lock position Q3, the stopper plate 19 is in the same direction as when the operation lever 22 is locked, but the stopper plate 19 is also largely retreated upward and stands by at that position. It will be.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 7, when at least the operation lever 22 is in the lock position Q1, the inner pipe 18 including the operation lever 22 is biased by a biasing means such as a spring (not shown) in the direction of arrow a in FIG. When the operation lever 22 in FIG. 7 is in the lock position 1 in FIG. 7, the operation lever 22 is pulled upward from the lock groove 21c. When an external force as much as possible is applied to the stopper plate 19, the inner pipe 18 rotates in the clockwise direction together with the stopper plate 19 and the operation lever 22, and can self-recovery until the operation lever 22 is positioned at the unlock position Q2. It has become. When the operation lever 22 is in the lock position Q1, the unlock position Q2, and the retraction lock position Q3, the inner pipe 18 including the operation lever 22 and the stopper plate 19 can self-hold the posture at the corresponding position. It can be done.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the handle body 23 is provided on the hand body 8 of the assembling hand 7 in consideration of its handleability.

  Therefore, the assembly of the upper case 4 to the lower case 3 using the assembly hand 7 configured as described above is performed in the following procedure.

  First, when the upper case 4 positioned and placed at a predetermined position is sucked and supported by the assembly hand 7, the stopper plate 19 of the fall prevention mechanism 16 is raised and retracted to the retracted position (the operation lever 22 is 3-5, the assembling hand 7 is approached from above the upper case 4 as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, and the rough relative to the upper case 4 by the locate pin 15 or the steady bar 14 While positioning, the respective pressing pads 12 and suction pads 11 are pressed against the upper surface of the upper case 4 and the positioning pins 13 are engaged with the positioning holes on the upper case 4 side. At this stage, no negative pressure suction force acts on each suction pad 11, and relative positioning of the assembly hand 7 and the upper case 4 is made only by the engagement between the positioning pin 13 and the counterpart positioning hole. become. Further, the stopper plate 19 is in a retracted position that is largely retracted upward and is in the same direction as the engagement position P1 in FIG.

  Thereafter, when a negative pressure suction force is generated on the suction pad 11, the upper case 4 is sucked and supported by the assembly hand 7 while maintaining the above relative positioning state. In this state, the positional relationship between the opening 6 on the upper case 4 side sucked and supported by the assembly hand 7 and the stopper plate 19 of the fall prevention mechanism 16 based on the plan view of FIG. 6 is shown in FIG. Thus, although the positions of the two coincide, the stopper plate 19 is in the retracted position and in the same direction as the engagement position P1 in FIG. In this state, the longitudinal direction of the opening 6 and the longitudinal direction of the stopper plate 19 are crossed, that is, both longitudinal directions are orthogonal to each other. Even if the stopper plate 19 is lowered as it is, the opening is opened. It is in a relationship that cannot be inserted from the part 6.

  7, the stopper plate 19 is lowered together with the inner pipe 18 by moving the operation lever 22 from the retracted position Q3 to the unlock position Q2 along the vertical groove 21a of the groove cam 21. At that time, the stopper plate 19 is rotated 90 degrees together with the inner pipe 18 and the operation lever 22 at the initial stage of moving the operation lever 22 from the retracted position Q3 along the upper lateral groove 21e of the groove cam 21. As a result, the stopper plate 19 is positioned at the disengagement position P2 in the plan view of FIG. 6, and the opening 6 on the upper case 4 side and the stopper plate 19 coincide with each other in position and orientation. 19 is in an orientation that allows insertion into the opening 6. As a result, when the operating lever 22 is lowered to the unlock position Q2, the inner pipe 18 and the stopper plate 19 are also lowered accordingly, so that the stopper plate 19 is inserted into the upper case 4 from the opening 6. It will be.

  When the operation lever 22 is lowered to the unlock position Q2, the operation lever 22 is further moved to the lock position Q1 to be engaged with the lock groove 21c and the state is self-held. In this locked state, the lock plate 19 is in a position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 7, and as described above, the inner pipe 18 is attached by an elastic body that is pulled back from the lock position Q1 to the unlock position Q2. Since the urging force is acting, the locked state can be self-held by bringing the operating lever 22 into pressure contact with the inner peripheral surface of the lock groove 21c based on this urging force.

  The movement of the operation lever 22 from the unlock position Q2 to the lock position Q1 in this way is nothing but the inner pipe 18 and the stopper plate 19 rotate 90 degrees in the opposite direction to the previous case. As shown, the stopper plate 19 inserted into the upper case 4 from the opening 6 is in the engagement position P1, and the longitudinal directions of both the opening 6 and the stopper plate 19 cross each other.

  Thereby, the stopper plate 19 located on the lower side with respect to the peripheral portion of the opening 6 in a plan view has a so-called hooking relationship, and even if the stopper plate 19 is to be extracted upward through the opening 6. In this state, the stopper plate 19 cannot be extracted from the opening 6. In this state, the fall prevention mechanism 16 prevents the upper case 4 from falling. Thus, the upper case 4 is sucked and supported by the assembling hand 7 and the fall prevention mechanism 16 is provided with the fall prevention measure.

  On the other hand, in the assembly stage in which the upper case 4 supported by the assembly hand 7 is sucked and supported with respect to the lower case 3, as shown in FIG. 2, the lower case 3 in which the assembled battery 5 and its associated devices are accommodated You are waiting in the open horizontal state.

  Therefore, the upper case 4 previously sucked and supported by the assembling hand 7 is transported to the position just above the lower case 3 waiting on the assembling stage together with the assembling hand 7 by the movement of the hoist as a transport mother machine, and further the assembling hand. The upper case 4 supported by suction 7 is slowly lowered with respect to the lower case 3.

  In the process of transporting the upper case 4 by such an assembling hand 7, the upper case 4 supported by the suction pads 11 may swing within the range of the degree of freedom of bending of the suction pads 11. Such unnecessary movement of the upper case 4 is suppressed by the steady bar 14 and the locate pin 15 located around the upper case 4.

  Further, in the process of transporting the upper case 4 by the assembly hand 7, even when the upper case 4 tries to tilt or drop due to a suction failure of the suction pad 11 or the like, for example, FIG. , 7, the stopper plate 19 of the fall prevention mechanism 16 inserted into the upper case 4 from the opening 6 of the upper case 4 is hooked on the peripheral edge of the opening 6. Therefore, even if the lower surface of the peripheral edge of the opening 6 in the upper case 4 is seated on the stopper plate 19, the stopper plate 19 does not slip upward from the opening 6. Thereby, the fall prevention function of the upper case 4 by the fall prevention mechanism 16 is effectively exhibited.

  In the process of slowly lowering the upper case 4 sucked and supported by the assembling hand 7 with respect to the lower case 3 waiting on the lower side, the tip of the locating pin 15 on the assembling hand 7 side is, for example, the lower case 3 side. Engage with the bolt holes or the like formed in the peripheral flange portion 3a, and perform relative positioning between the assembly hand 7 and the lower case 3, and by extension, relative positioning between the lower case 3 and the upper case 4 through the assembly hand 7. Then, the upper case 4 is further lowered with respect to the lower case 3 together with the assembly hand 7. At that time, the locating pin 15 gradually contracts under the stroke S in FIG. 5, and at the same time, the steady bar 14 has its tip interfered with the peripheral flange portion 3a on the lower case 3 side. Similarly, the steady bar 14 contracts under the stroke S in FIG. As a result, the presence of the steady bar 14 does not become an obstacle to the relative positioning of the lower case 3 and the upper case 4.

  If the lower case 3 and the upper case 4 come close to each other in the process in which the upper case 4 is gradually lowered with respect to the lower case 3, the operator can operate the operation lever 22 from the locked position Q1 to the unlocked position Q2. Accordingly, the stopper plate 19 is rotated 90 degrees from the engagement position P1 to the engagement release position P2, and the engagement of the stopper plate 19 is released. Here, even if the operator does not operate the operation lever 22 from the locked position Q1 to the unlocked position Q2, it is inserted into the upper case 4 from the opening 6 of the upper case 4 first. The stopper plate 19 of the falling prevention mechanism 16 interferes with a part of incidental equipment stored in the lower case 3 in advance. Due to the interference with a part of the incidental device, an upward force is applied to the stopper plate 19 so that the stopper plate 19 is lifted up by a predetermined amount.

  The stopper plate 19 is pushed up because the inner pipe 18 to which the stopper plate 19 itself is fixed is pushed up together with the operation lever 22 at the lock position Q1, and is thus engaged with the lock groove 21c in FIG. When the operation lever 22 comes out of the lock groove 21c upward, and at that moment, the inner pipe 18 is stopped by the stopper plate 19 until the operation lever 22 is positioned at the unlock position Q2 by the biasing force previously applied to the inner pipe 18. At the same time, it rotates 90 degrees in the clockwise direction. By this rotation, the stopper plate 19 again becomes the disengagement position P2 in FIG. 6, and the positional relationship between the opening 6 on the upper case 4 side and the stopper plate 19 is the same in the longitudinal direction as shown in FIG. Will be.

  This is because the stopper plate 19 has been hooked to the opening 6 so far, that is, the stopper plate 19 is prevented from falling, and the stopper plate 19 is pulled upward from the opening 6. It can be extracted. Even if the inner pipe 18 is rotated 90 degrees together with the stopper plate 19 so that the operating lever 22 is pulled out from the lock groove 21c in FIG. 7, the stopper plate 19 is still located below the opening 6. Thus, there is no interference with the inner and lower surfaces of the upper case 4.

  Thereafter, with the relative positioning of the upper case 4 and the lower case 3 being slightly delayed from the disengagement operation of the stopper plate 19 with respect to the opening 6, the upper flange 4a with respect to the peripheral flange portion 3a on the lower case 3 side is provided. The peripheral flange portion 4a of the case 4 is seated, and the upper case 4 is assembled to the lower case 3 in a state where the relative positioning of both is performed for the first time at this time.

  Therefore, after the assembly of the upper case 4 to the lower case 3 is completed, the negative suction force of each suction pad 11 is released by the so-called vacuum break of each suction pad 11, while the operation lever 22 of FIG. By pushing up along the vertical groove 21 a, the stopper plate 19 is pulled out from the opening 6 directly upward without interfering with the peripheral edge of the opening 6 of the upper case 4. After that, by engaging the operating lever 22 with the retracting groove 21e of FIG. 7, the stopper plate 19 is retracted above the upper case 4 and is held in that position.

  Then, with the peripheral flange portion 4a of the upper case 4 seated on the peripheral flange portion 3a of the lower case 3, temporary tightening with bolts and nuts at a plurality of overlapping portions of the peripheral flange portions 3a, 4a. Then, the upper case 4 is fastened and fixed to the lower case 3.

  When the upper case 4 is fastened and fixed to the lower case 3 in this way, the assembly hand 7 is moved upward to move. As a result, each suction pad 11, pressing pad 12, steady bar and 14 locating pin 15 are sequentially separated from the upper case 4, and the upper case 4 is completely released from the assembly hand 7. As a result, a series of assembly work of the upper case 4 to the lower case 3 is completed.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the upper case 4 is assembled to the lower case 3 using the assembly hand 7 using the hoist as the transport mother machine. Therefore, the work load when assembling the upper case 4 is reduced. Of course, the assembling hand 7 itself has a relatively simple structure, and the upper case 4 can be accurately and stably assembled to the lower case 3 to improve workability. .

  In particular, the assembly hand 7 includes a positioning pin 13 that functions as a means for relative positioning between the assembly hand 7 and the upper case 4, and for relative positioning between the assembly hand 7 and the lower case 3. Therefore, the positioning accuracy between the lower case 3 and the upper case 4 is increased, and the assembly accuracy between the lower case 3 and the upper case 4 is improved.

  In addition, since the assembly hand 7 is provided with the fall prevention mechanism 16, it is possible to prevent the upper case 4 from dropping from the assembly hand 7, and to improve the safety and to prevent secondary problems due to the fall. Occurrence can be prevented in advance.

  In addition, since the engagement of the stopper plate 19 in the fall prevention mechanism 16 is autonomously performed by interference with the accessory device in the lower case 3, the reliability of the engagement release operation is high. Furthermore, since the opening 6 formed in the upper case 4 is effectively used for preventing the upper case 4 from falling, the structure of the fall preventing mechanism 16 itself can be simplified.

  Here, in the above-described embodiment, a hoist is used as the transport mother machine. However, instead of this hoist, for example, an articulated arm type assisting device or an orthogonal coordinate type transport device can be used as the transport mother machine.

  Furthermore, in the fall prevention mechanism 16 in the above embodiment, the rectangular or rectangular stopper plate 19 is used as the engaging means. However, the stopper plate 19 is not limited to this shape, for example, an elliptical shape or the like. Other shapes may also be used. That is, if the longitudinal dimension is shorter than the long side of the opening 6 and longer than the short side, and the short-side dimension is shorter than the short side of the opening 6, the shape is limited. Not.

  In addition, the engagement means of the fall prevention mechanism 16 is not necessarily limited to a plate-like one such as the stopper plate 19. In short, any mechanism that can switch between an engaged state that can reliably prevent the upper case 4 from dropping and an engaged state that is the released state thereof can be used. For example, the peripheral portion of the opening 6 can be gripped or released. Clamping means that can be used may be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Battery pack 2 ... Battery housing 3 ... Lower case (lower housing)
4… Upper case (upper housing)
5a ... unit cell 5 ... assembled battery 6 ... opening 7 ... assembly hand 8 ... hand body 11 ... suction pad (suction means)
13. Positioning pin (positioning means)
15 ... Locate pin (positioning means)
18 ... Inner pipe (rod member)
19: Stopper plate (engaging means)
P1 ... engagement position P2 ... engagement release position

Claims (6)

A bottomed bottom casing having an open upper surface, an assembled battery composed of an assembly of a plurality of unit cells accommodated in the lower casing, and closing the lower casing When assembling a battery pack consisting of an upper casing that forms a battery casing together with the lower casing, the upper casing is positioned and supported in advance by an assembly hand suspended and supported by the transport mother machine. A device for assembling the housing from above to the lower housing in which the assembled battery is accommodated.
While an opening is formed in the upper surface of the upper casing,
The assembly hand is
A suction means provided on the hand body for sucking and supporting the upper surface of the upper housing;
A rotatable rod member provided on the hand body so as to be oriented in the vertical direction;
Engagement means provided at the lower end of the rod member;
With
In the state where the suction means sucks and supports the upper housing, the engagement means enters the lower side from the opening of the upper housing and is engaged with the periphery of the opening in plan view. ,
After the upper casing is assembled to the lower casing and before the suction support of the upper casing by the suction means is released, the rod member is rotated to engage the surroundings of the opening by the engaging means. A battery pack assembling apparatus, wherein the combined state is released. While the opening is rectangular in plan view,
The battery pack assembling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the engaging member is a similar plate-like member smaller than the opening.   The plate-like member is a rectangle in which the length of the long side portion is shorter than the long side portion of the opening portion and longer than the short side portion of the opening portion, and the length of the short side portion is shorter than the short side portion of the opening portion. The battery pack assembling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the battery pack assembling apparatus is in the shape of a battery.   When the engaging member receives an external force from below in an engaged state with respect to the periphery of the opening, the engaging member returns to a position where the engaged state is released while moving upward together with the rod member. 4. The battery pack assembling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the battery pack is assembled.   The assembly hand further includes positioning means for performing relative positioning between the hand main body and the upper housing, and positioning means for performing relative positioning between the hand main body and the lower housing. The battery pack assembling apparatus according to any one of 1 to 4. A bottomed bottom casing having an open upper surface, an assembled battery composed of an assembly of a plurality of unit cells accommodated in the lower casing, and closing the lower casing When assembling a battery pack consisting of an upper casing that forms a battery casing together with the lower casing, the upper casing is positioned and supported in advance by an assembly hand suspended and supported by the transport mother machine. A method of assembling the housing from above with respect to the lower housing in which the assembled battery is accommodated.
While an opening is formed in the upper surface of the upper casing,
The assembly hand is
A suction means provided on the hand body for sucking and supporting the upper surface of the upper housing;
A rotatable rod member provided on the hand body so as to be oriented in the vertical direction;
Engagement means provided at the lower end of the rod member;
With
In a state where the suction means sucks and supports the upper housing, the engagement means enters the lower side of the upper housing from the opening thereof and is engaged with the periphery of the opening in a plan view. on the other hand,
After the assembly of the upper housing to the lower housing, and before releasing the suction support of the upper housing by the suction means, the rod member is rotated and the engagement with the periphery of the opening by the engagement means A method for assembling a battery pack, wherein the state is released.

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