JP2016196344A - Work stacking device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a work stacking device capable of stacking workpieces quickly.SOLUTION: A work stacking device 1 comprises: a supplying and conveying part 11 conveying and supplying workpieces W; and a laminate conveying part 13 which receives the workpieces W at a prescribed stack position S from the supplying and conveying part 11 and conveys laminates 15 of the workpieces W with speed equal to conveying speed of the workpieces W by the supplying and conveying part 11. A conveying route 18 at the stack position S by the laminate conveying part 13 is at a lower position than a conveying route 16 of the supplying and conveying part 11. At delivery positions P1 and P2 of the workpieces W to the laminate conveying route 13 from the supplying and conveying part 11, a guide part 12 is provided which guides the workpieces W and drops them to the conveying route 18 of the laminate conveying route 13 from the conveying route 16 of the supplying and conveying part 11.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a workpiece laminating apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a power storage device is known in which an electrode assembly in which a positive electrode and a negative electrode are stacked via a separator is housed in a case. As an apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly, there is a system in which works such as a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separator are transported and supplied by a conveyor, and a work picked up by a suction means is transported to a stacking position and stacked.

  For example, in a thin film workpiece laminating apparatus described in Patent Document 1, a process of adsorbing and supporting a first work so as to overlap a separator adsorbed and supported by an adsorption pad and laminating at a lamination position, and a separator adsorbed and supported by an adsorption pad The process of adsorbing and supporting the second workpiece so as to overlap with each other and laminating at the laminating position is repeatedly executed.

JP 2010-1146 A

  In the conventional workpiece laminating apparatus as described above, the suction support portion moves and stops when the workpiece is transferred from the supply portion to the suction support portion and when the workpiece is transferred from the suction support portion to the stacking position. For this reason, it is difficult to perform continuous delivery of workpieces, and shortening the time required for stacking workpieces has become an issue.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a workpiece laminating apparatus capable of quickly laminating workpieces.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a workpiece laminating apparatus according to an embodiment includes a supply conveyance unit that conveys and supplies a workpiece, and receives a workpiece at a predetermined lamination position from the supply conveyance unit, and supplies the workpiece laminate to the supply conveyance unit A stack conveyance unit that conveys the workpiece at the same speed as the conveyance speed of the workpiece, and the conveyance path of the stacking position by the laminate conveyance unit is lower than the conveyance path of the supply conveyance unit, and the supply conveyance unit At the position where the work is delivered from the stack to the laminate transport section, a guide section is arranged to guide the work and drop it from the transport path of the supply transport section to the transport path of the stack transport section.

  In this workpiece laminating apparatus, the workpiece conveyance speed by the supply conveyance unit and the conveyance speed at the lamination position by the laminate conveyance unit are the same. And in the delivery position of a workpiece | work, a guide part guides a workpiece | work and falls to the conveyance path | route of a laminated body conveyance part from the conveyance path | route of a supply conveyance part. Therefore, in this workpiece laminating apparatus, it is possible to deliver the workpiece without stopping the workpiece conveyance. Therefore, the time required for laminating the workpiece can be reduced as compared with the case where the workpiece is moved or stopped at the time of delivery. Can be shortened.

  Moreover, the front-end | tip part of the conveyance path | route of a supply conveyance part may overlap with the conveyance path | route of a laminated body conveyance part up and down, and supply conveyance part itself may become a guide part. In this case, a workpiece can be quickly delivered with a simple configuration.

  According to this workpiece laminating apparatus, workpieces can be laminated quickly and accurately.

It is the schematic which shows the structure of the workpiece | work lamination apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the mode of the delivery of the workpiece | work in the workpiece | work lamination apparatus shown in FIG. 1, (a) shows the mode of delivery from a supply conveyance part to a relay conveyance part, (b) is a laminated body from a relay conveyance part. The state of delivery to the transport unit is shown. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the workpiece | work lamination apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the workpiece | work lamination apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the mode of the delivery of the workpiece | work in the workpiece | work lamination apparatus which concerns on a modification.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a workpiece laminating apparatus will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a workpiece laminating apparatus according to the first embodiment. A workpiece laminating apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an apparatus that is incorporated into a manufacturing system for a power storage device such as a lithium ion secondary battery. The workpiece laminating apparatus 1 performs a part of a manufacturing process of an electrode assembly used for a power storage device, and is configured as an apparatus that forms a laminated body by laminating electrodes in a predetermined order.

  The workpieces W handled by the workpiece laminating apparatus 1 are the positive electrode 2 and the negative electrode 3 of the power storage device. The positive electrode 2 has a positive electrode active material layer formed on both sides of a rectangular metal foil made of, for example, an aluminum foil. The positive electrode active material layer is formed including a positive electrode active material and a binder. Examples of the positive electrode active material include composite oxide, metallic lithium, and sulfur. The composite oxide includes, for example, at least one of manganese, nickel, cobalt, and aluminum and lithium. On one edge of the positive electrode 2, a tab 2 a used for connection with the positive electrode terminal is formed.

  Although not shown, the positive electrode 2 is in a state where the portion excluding the tab 2a is accommodated in a bag-shaped separator. Examples of the material for forming the separator include a porous film made of a polyolefin resin such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), a woven fabric or a non-woven fabric made of polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), methylcellulose and the like. In addition, a separator is not restricted to a bag shape, You may use a sheet-like thing.

  On the other hand, the negative electrode 3 is formed by forming a negative electrode active material layer on both surfaces of a metal foil made of, for example, copper foil. The negative electrode active material layer is formed including a negative electrode active material and a binder. Examples of the negative electrode active material include carbon such as graphite, highly oriented graphite, mesocarbon microbeads, hard carbon, and soft carbon, alkali metals such as lithium and sodium, metal compounds, SiOx (0.5 ≦ x ≦ 1.5 ) And the like, and boron-added carbon.

  The binder may be a thermoplastic resin such as polyamideimide or polyimide, or may be a polymer resin having an imide bond in the main chain. In addition, the positive electrode active material layer and the negative electrode active material layer in this embodiment are formed by coating. The above active material particles and binder particles are kneaded in a solvent to form an electrode mixture. The electrode material mixture is applied onto a metal foil by a coating device having a die head, for example, and then dried and pressurized to form an active material layer. The solvent may be an organic solvent such as NMP (N-methylpyrrolidone), methanol, methyl isobutyl ketone, or water. A tab 3a is formed on one edge of the negative electrode 3 corresponding to the position of the negative electrode terminal. The tab 2a and the tab 3a are formed at positions that do not overlap each other when the positive electrode 2 and the negative electrode 3 are overlapped.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the workpiece laminating apparatus 1 includes a supply conveyance unit 11 that conveys and supplies the workpiece W, and a guide unit that guides the workpiece W supplied from the supply conveyance unit 11 toward the laminate conveyance unit 13. 12 and a laminate transport unit 13 that receives a workpiece at a predetermined stacking position S from the guide unit 12 and transports the laminate 15 of the workpiece W.

  The supply conveyance unit 11 is, for example, a belt conveyor. In the present embodiment, as the supply transport unit 11, a first supply transport unit 11 </ b> A that supplies the positive electrode 2 (hereinafter simply referred to as “positive electrode 2”) accommodated in the separator, and a second supply of the negative electrode 3. A supply conveyance unit 11B is provided. Each of the first supply conveyance unit 11A and the second supply conveyance unit 11B has a linear conveyance path 16. The conveyance path 16 of the first supply conveyance unit 11A extends from the left side to the right side in FIG. The transport path 16 of the second supply transport unit 11B extends from the lower side to the upper side in FIG. 1 at a position on the right side of the tip of the transport path 16 of the first supply transport unit 11A. For example, the positive electrode 2 is supplied from the first supply / conveyance unit 11A at a supply speed of, for example, five sheets per second. From the second supply conveyance unit 11B, the negative electrode 3 is supplied at a supply rate of, for example, five sheets per second so that the positive electrode 2 and the negative electrode 3 are alternately supplied to the laminate conveyance unit 13.

  In the present embodiment, the guide unit 12 includes a relay conveyance unit 14 interposed between the supply conveyance unit 11 and the stacked body conveyance unit 13 and a guide plate 19 that guides the workpiece W. The relay conveyance part 14 is a belt conveyor, for example. The transport path 17 of the relay transport unit 14 is disposed at a lower position than the transport path 16 of the supply transport unit 11. The conveyance path 17 is a circular orbit, and the conveyor circulates counterclockwise at the same speed as the conveyance speed of the workpiece W by the supply conveyance unit 11.

  A leading end portion of the transport path 16 of the first supply transport unit 11A is adjacent to one side (lower side in FIG. 1) of the transport path 17, and the first supply transport unit 11A is connected to the relay transport unit 14. A delivery position P1 of the positive electrode 2 is set. Further, the other end of the transport path 17 (the right side in FIG. 1) is adjacent to the leading end portion of the transport path 16 of the first supply transport unit 11A, from the second supply transport unit 11B to the relay transport unit 14. The delivery position P1 of the negative electrode 3 is set. In addition, one side (the right side in FIG. 1) of the transport path 18 of the stacked body transport unit 13 is adjacent to the other side of the transport path 17 (left side in FIG. 1). A delivery position P2 for the workpiece W to the section 13 is set.

  As described above, the positive electrode 2 is supplied from the first supply transport unit 11A at a supply rate of 5 sheets per second, and the negative electrode 3 is supplied from the second supply transfer unit 11B at a supply rate of 5 sheets per second. In the delivery position P2, for example, the positive electrode 2 and the negative electrode 3 are alternately placed on the stack position S of the stack transport unit 13 at a supply speed of 10 sheets per second.

  The guide plate 19 is a plate-like member formed of, for example, resin and has a gently curved shape. One guide plate 19 is at the delivery position P1 of the positive electrode 2 from the first supply conveyance unit 11A to the relay conveyance unit 14, and at the delivery position P1 of the negative electrode 3 from the second supply conveyance unit 11B to the relay conveyance unit 14. Corresponding to each other. The other guide plate 19 is disposed corresponding to the delivery position P2 of the workpiece W from the relay conveyance unit 14 to the stacked body conveyance unit 13.

  The laminated body conveyance part 13 is a belt conveyor, for example. The transport path 18 of the stacked body transport unit 13 is disposed at a lower position than the transport path 17 of the relay transport unit 14. The conveyance path 18 is a substantially rectangular orbit having an R-shaped corner, and the stacking position S of the workpiece W (laminated body 15) rotates in a clockwise direction. The transport speed of the stacking position S by the stacked body transport section 13 is equal to the transport speed of the work W by the supply transport sections 11A and 11B and the transport speed of the work W by the relay transport section 14.

  A plurality of stacking positions S are set on the transport path 18 at equal intervals. In the present embodiment, the number of stack positions S is an odd number. Note that a positioning portion that positions the workpiece W in the in-plane direction may be provided at the stacking position S. Such a positioning part may be a frame disposed on the conveyor, or may be a recess or a groove formed on the surface of the conveyor.

  In such a workpiece laminating apparatus 1, when the workpiece W is conveyed to the delivery position P <b> 1 by the supply conveyance unit 11, the workpiece W is relayed and conveyed from the conveyance path 16 of the supply conveyance unit 11 by being guided by the guide plate 19. It is pushed out toward the conveyance path 17 of the section 14. At the delivery position P <b> 1, the transport path 16 of the supply transport unit 11 and the transport path 17 of the relay transport unit 14 are adjacent to each other, and the transport path 17 of the relay transport unit 14 is lower than the transport path 16 of the supply transport unit 11. Has been placed. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 2A, the workpiece W guided by the guide plate 19 is pushed out from the conveyance path 16 of the supply conveyance unit 11 and falls, and is received on the conveyance path 16 of the relay conveyance unit 14. Passed.

  The workpiece W transferred onto the transfer path 16 of the relay transfer unit 14 is transferred along the transfer path 16 and transferred to the delivery position P2. At the delivery position P <b> 2, the workpiece W is pushed out from the transport path 17 of the relay transport unit 14 toward the transport path 18 of the stacked body transport unit 13 by being guided by the guide plate 19. At the delivery position P2, the transport path 17 of the relay transport unit 14 and the transport path 18 of the laminate transport unit 13 are adjacent to each other, and the transport path 18 of the stack transport unit 13 is lower than the transport path 17 of the relay transport unit 14. Placed in position. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 2B, the workpiece W guided by the guide plate 19 is pushed out from the transport path 17 of the relay transport unit 14 and falls, and then onto the transport path 18 of the laminate transport unit 13. Delivered. Thereafter, by repeating the above-described steps, the workpieces W are sequentially stacked at the plurality of stacking positions S, and the stacked body 15 of the workpieces W is formed. The laminated body 15 having the predetermined number of workpieces W is sent to the next process (apparatus) by the laminated body conveying unit 13 and is fixed integrally in the transition process, and the same-polarity tabs are connected to each other. Thus, an electrode assembly is obtained.

  As described above, in the workpiece laminating apparatus 1, the conveyance speed of the workpiece W by the supply conveyance unit 11 and the conveyance speed of the lamination position S by the multilayer body conveyance unit 13 are constant. In the workpiece laminating apparatus 1, the guide plate 19 and the relay conveyance unit 14 constituting the guide unit 12 guide the workpiece W at the delivery position P <b> 1, and the workpiece W is transferred from the conveyance path 16 of the supply conveyance unit 11 to the relay conveyance unit 14. It is dropped on the transport path 17 and delivered. Further, at the delivery position P2, the guide plate 19 and the relay conveyance unit 14 constituting the guide unit 12 guide the workpiece W, and the workpiece W is transferred from the conveyance path 17 of the relay conveyance unit 14 to the conveyance path 18 of the stacked body conveyance unit 13. Drop and deliver. Therefore, since the workpiece laminating apparatus 1 can continuously transfer the workpiece W without stopping the conveyance of the workpiece W, the workpiece stacking apparatus 1 can transfer the workpiece W compared to the case where the workpiece W is moved and stopped during the delivery. The time required for stacking W can be shortened.

Further, in the workpiece laminating apparatus 1, the conveyance speed of the workpiece W by the supply conveyance unit 11, the conveyance speed of the workpiece W by the relay conveyance unit 14, and the conveyance speed of the lamination position S by the stacked body conveyance unit 13 are equal to each other. Yes. As a result, at the delivery position P1, the relative speed between the workpiece W conveyed by the supply conveyance unit 11 and the conveyor of the relay conveyance unit 14 becomes zero, and at the delivery position P2, the workpiece W conveyed by the relay conveyance unit 14 and stacked The relative speed with respect to the stacking position S of the body transport unit 13 becomes zero. Accordingly, when the workpiece W is dropped from the conveyance path 16 of the supply conveyance unit 11 to the conveyance path 17 of the relay conveyance unit 14 and from the conveyance path 17 of the relay conveyance unit 14 to the conveyance path 18 of the stacked body conveyance unit 13. The positional deviation when the is dropped is suppressed, and the positional accuracy is improved. Further, damage to the workpiece W when the workpiece W is dropped from the conveyance path 16 of the supply conveyance section 11 to the conveyance path 17 of the relay conveyance section 14, and the stack conveyance section 13 from the conveyance path 17 of the relay conveyance section 14. Any damage to the workpiece W when the workpiece W is dropped onto the transport path 18 can be suitably suppressed.
[Second Embodiment]

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a workpiece laminating apparatus according to the second embodiment. As shown in the figure, the work laminating apparatus 21 according to the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the layout of the supply transport unit 11, the guide unit 12, and the stacked body transport unit 13. More specifically, in the workpiece laminating apparatus 21, the positive electrode 2 and the negative electrode 3 that are workpieces W are alternately supplied from a single supply conveyance unit 11. Further, in the workpiece laminating apparatus 21, the relay conveyance unit 14 is not provided, and the guide unit 12 is configured only by the guide plate 19. Furthermore, the conveyance path 18 of the laminated body conveyance unit 13 is a substantially rectangular orbit with corners having an R shape, and the lamination position S circulates counterclockwise in synchronization with the supply timing of the workpiece W. .

  The leading end portion of the transport path 16 in the supply transport unit 11 and one long side (lower side in FIG. 3) of the transport path 18 of the stacked body transport unit 13 are adjacent to each other over a predetermined length. In this adjacent section R1, the workpiece W transported by the supply transport unit 11 and the stacking position S transported by the stacked body transport unit 13 run in parallel at a relative speed of zero. The delivery position P1 of the workpiece W from the supply conveyance unit 11 to the stacked body conveyance unit 13 is set near the tip of the adjacent section R1, and the workpiece W guided by the guide plate 19 is supplied to the supply conveyance unit 11 at the delivery position P1. It is pushed out of the transport path 16 and dropped, and is transferred onto the transport path 18 of the laminate transport unit 13.

Also in such a workpiece laminating apparatus 21, the effect similar to the said embodiment is show | played. That is, since it is possible to deliver the workpiece W without stopping the conveyance of the workpiece W, the time required for stacking the workpieces W can be shortened as compared with the case where the workpiece W is moved and stopped at the time of delivery. . Moreover, since the guide part 12 is comprised only by the guide plate 19 without providing the relay conveyance part 14, simplification of an apparatus is achieved. Furthermore, since the conveyance path 16 of the supply conveyance part 11 and the conveyance path 18 of the laminated body conveyance part 13 are adjacent over a predetermined length, the workpiece W is transferred from the supply conveyance part 11 to the lamination body conveyance part 13. Can be implemented more reliably.
[Third Embodiment]

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a workpiece laminating apparatus according to the third embodiment. As shown in the figure, the work laminating apparatus 31 according to the third embodiment is further different from the second embodiment in the layout of the supply and transport unit 11. More specifically, in the workpiece laminating apparatus 31, the leading end portion of the conveyance path 16 of the supply conveyance unit 11 overlaps with one long side (lower side in FIG. 4) of the conveyance path 18 of the stacked body conveyance unit 13. Has been placed. Further, the guide plate 19 is not disposed, and the supply conveyance unit 11 itself is the guide unit 12.

  In the overlapping section R2 where the leading end portion of the transport path 16 of the supply transport unit 11 and the transport path 18 of the stacked body transport unit 13 overlap vertically, the workpiece W transported by the supply transport unit 11 and the stack transport unit 13 The stacking position S to be transported runs at a relative speed of zero. The delivery position P1 of the workpiece W from the supply conveyance section 11 to the stacked body conveyance section 13 is the destination of the overlapping section R2, and the workpiece W guided by the conveyor is transferred from the conveyance path 16 of the supply conveyance section 11 at the delivery position P1. It is extruded and dropped, and is delivered onto the transport path 18 of the laminate transport unit 13.

  Also in such a workpiece laminating apparatus 31, the same effect as the said embodiment is show | played. That is, since it is possible to continuously transfer the workpiece W without stopping the conveyance of the workpiece W, the time required for stacking the workpieces W as compared with the case where the workpiece W is moved and stopped during the transfer. Can be shortened. In addition, since the relay conveyance unit 14 and the guide plate 19 are not provided and the supply conveyance unit 11 itself is used as the guide unit 12, the apparatus can be further simplified.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the positive electrode 2 and the negative electrode 3 are exemplified as the workpiece W. However, the present invention can be applied to other workpieces as long as the workpiece is a sheet body. The supply speed and supply order of the workpiece W, the shape of the conveyance path, and the like can be appropriately changed. Furthermore, in the laminated body conveyance part 13, you may arrange | position the press part which presses the laminated body 15 in the lamination direction in the position except a delivery position. In this case, occurrence of misalignment in the stacked body 15 transported by the stacked body transport unit 13 can be suitably suppressed. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the guide plate 19 having a gently curved shape is applied to the guide portion 12. However, even if a pusher that pushes the workpiece W on the transport path to the adjacent transport path is applied to the guide portion 12. Good.

  For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, a sliding plate 20 that slides the workpiece W from the transport path 16 of the supply transport unit 11 toward the transport path 18 of the stacked body transport unit 13 may be disposed at the delivery position P1. . In this case, the workpiece W can be smoothly dropped by the sliding plate 20, and damage to the workpiece W during delivery of the workpiece W can be more reliably suppressed. When applying the sliding board 20 to the workpiece laminating apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, it is preferable to arrange the sliding board 20 at each of the delivery positions P1 and P2.

  In each of the above embodiments, “constant speed” means that the difference in transport speed is negligibly small. As an example, it is desirable that this speed difference is a speed difference in which the positional deviation at the stacking position S caused by the speed difference is less than or equal to the required accuracy when the stacked body 15 is assembled.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the bag-shaped separator which accommodated the positive electrode 2 was illustrated and it was set as the structure which supplies a separator from the supply conveyance part 11 with the positive electrode 2, it is not limited to this in particular. For example, the positive electrode 2 and the negative electrode 3 may each be stored in a bag-shaped separator, or only the negative electrode 3 may be stored in a bag-shaped separator. The separator is not limited to a bag shape, and may be a sheet shape, and may be supplied separately from the positive electrode 2 and the negative electrode 3. When a sheet-like separator is applied to the first embodiment, for example, a separator supply / conveyance unit may be provided separately.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 21, 31 ... Work laminating apparatus, 11, 11A, 11B ... Supply conveyance part, 12 ... Guide part, 13 ... Laminate conveyance part, 15 ... Laminate body, 16 ... Conveyance path of supply conveyance part, 18 ... Laminate body Transport path of transport unit, P1, P2 ... delivery position, S ... stacking position, W ... work.

Claims (2)

A supply conveyance unit for conveying and supplying a workpiece;
A laminate transport unit that receives a workpiece at a predetermined stacking position from the supply transport unit, and transports the stack of the workpieces at a speed equal to the transport speed of the workpiece by the supply transport unit;
The transport path of the stacking position by the stack transport unit is lower than the transport path of the supply transport unit,
At the delivery position of the workpiece from the supply conveyance section to the laminate conveyance section, there is a guide section that guides the workpiece and drops it from the conveyance path of the supply conveyance section to the conveyance path of the laminate conveyance section. Arranged work laminating equipment.   The workpiece laminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a leading end portion of the conveyance path of the supply conveyance unit overlaps with a conveyance path of the stacked body conveyance unit in a vertical direction, and the supply conveyance unit itself is the guide unit.

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