JP3057556B2 - Secondary battery charge / discharge method and battery charge / discharge device used for the same - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a novel charging / discharging method for a secondary battery and a battery charging / discharging apparatus used for the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a battery charging / discharging device for initial activation of a secondary battery. The present invention relates to a charging / discharging method for a secondary battery capable of suppressing temperature variation, thereby stabilizing a battery capacity and realizing a high capacity, and a battery charging / discharging apparatus used therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Alkaline rechargeable batteries such as nickel-hydrogen rechargeable batteries and nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries usually have an initial activation process in which assembled batteries are repeatedly charged and discharged under predetermined conditions. In order to stabilize the battery capacity and to ensure the reliability at the time of the first use of actual use, it is attempted.

Conventionally, the above-described initial activation processing has been performed as follows. An example will be described below with reference to the drawings. That is, first, the pallet 1 as shown in FIG. 8 is prepared as a battery housing jig. This pallet 1
Is made of a plastic material or a metal base material whose surface is covered with a plastic material, and the surface is electrically insulating. Then, on the pallet 1, the upper surface 1a
A plurality of bottomed battery holding holes 2 are formed from to the lower surface 1b, and the batteries 3 assembled as shown by the phantom lines in the figure are accommodated and held therein.

[0004] Here, the battery retaining hole 2, the battery holding hole 2 without the pore size has become slightly larger diameter than the diameter of the battery 3, the depth reaching the bottom 2a of the battery 3 accommodated fall The depth is such that it can be securely held inside. A small hole 4 reaching the lower surface 1b of the pallet 1 is formed in the bottom 2a as a through hole. This small hole 4
It functions as an insertion hole for an electrode terminal projecting from a flat jig described later.

[0005] Although the pore size of the battery holding hole 2 in FIG. 8 has a circular shape, which is battery 3 to accommodate a because a cylindrical battery, the battery holding hole 2 shape of the battery accommodating What is necessary is just to form according to a shape. When the battery 3 is accommodated in the battery holding hole 2, as shown in FIG. 9 , the battery 3 is held in the battery holding hole 2 while being placed on the bottom 2 a of the battery holding hole. Battery bottom surface (negative electrode terminal) 3
a is exposed, and the positive electrode terminals 3b of the batteries are arranged on the upper surface 1a of the pallet 1 so as to protrude.

[0006] The pallet 1 containing the batteries 3 in this manner is transported to a charging / discharging step. Then, as shown in FIG. 1 0, the lower surface 1b side of the pallet 1, wherein the plate-shaped jig 5 power terminal 5a to the surface position corresponding to the small hole 4 of the pallet 1 are arranged to protrude The power supply terminal 5a is inserted into the small hole 4 to make contact therewith. Here, the height of the power supply terminal 5 a is slightly higher than the depth of the small hole 4 of the pallet 1. On the upper surface 1a side of the pallet 1, a flat jig 6 in which power terminals 6a are arranged so as to protrude from the surface position corresponding to the positive electrode terminal 3b of the battery 3 housed therein is brought into contact with the upper surface 1a. The flat jig 6 is pressed downward. as a result,
In a state where the battery 3 is slightly raised in the battery holding hole 2, the lower end surface 3 a thereof is pressed against the power supply terminal 5 a to form a conductive state, and the power supply terminal 6 a is pressed against the battery positive terminal 3 b to form a conductive state. It is formed.

By activating an electric control unit (not shown), all the batteries 3 contained in the pallet 1 are charged and discharged at once, and the initial activation process proceeds.

[0008]

Generally, since the reaction in the battery that proceeds during the initial activation process is an exothermic reaction,
During this initial activation process, the battery generates heat and its temperature rises. When the battery temperature rises, the internal pressure of the battery also rises and the charging efficiency decreases, so that the battery capacity of the battery obtained decreases.

[0009] When a conventional initial activation process shown as an example in FIGS. 8 to 1 0, the battery 3 generates heat in a state of being accommodated in the battery holding hole 2. Therefore, in this state, the heat generated from the battery 3 stays in the battery holding hole 2 and the battery 3
The heat dissipation of the battery deteriorates, and the temperature rise of the battery itself further progresses, so that the above-mentioned problem is likely to occur. Further, since a large number of batteries 3 are accommodated in the pallet 1, not all the batteries generate heat at the same temperature, and a variation in temperature rise inevitably occurs between the batteries. If the variation in the temperature rise becomes large, the variation in the battery capacity among the obtained batteries becomes large at the end of the initial activation process, which causes an undesirable situation in quality control.

As described above, in the case of the conventional initial activation process, the battery temperature tends to rise, and the temperature rise among the batteries tends to vary. Therefore, there is a difficulty in obtaining a battery with a high battery capacity in a stable state. The present invention solves the above-described problem at the time of the conventional initial activation process, suppresses a temperature rise of the battery, reduces variations in the temperature rise, and can stably supply a battery with a high battery capacity. It is an object of the present invention to provide a charging / discharging method for a secondary battery and a battery charging / discharging device used for the method.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a plurality of bottomed battery holding holes having an insertion hole for a power supply terminal formed at a bottom thereof are provided. When the secondary battery is inserted and held in the battery holding hole of the pallet having a power supply terminal connected to each of a lower end surface and a positive electrode terminal of the secondary battery to charge and discharge the secondary battery, a battery holding hole is provided.
A power terminal for charging and discharging the secondary battery inserted and held in
A secondary battery that is pushed up from below to protrude from the upper surface of the holding hole , is held in a state where the surface of the secondary battery is exposed, and is charged and discharged while blowing on the exposed surface of the secondary battery. Is provided.

Also, in the present invention, there is provided a pallet having a plurality of bottomed battery holding holes having an insertion hole for a power terminal formed in a bottom portion, and the pallet provided on the lower surface side of the pallet, It can move up and down on the surface position corresponding to the hole ,
A lower surface side charging / discharging jig in which power supply terminals for charging / discharging capable of pushing up the battery are arranged, and corresponding to a positive electrode terminal of the battery provided on the upper surface side of the pallet and held by the battery holding hole. The upper surface side charging and discharging jig in which power supply terminals for charging and discharging are arranged at the surface position to be provided, and blowing means for blowing air to the space formed by the pallet and the upper surface side charging and discharging jig. A battery charge / discharge device is provided.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, with reference to FIG surface, taking an example of a charge and discharge device of the present invention for charging and discharging method is described in detail.

[0014] Examples of conductive IkeTakashi discharge apparatus of the present invention FIGS. 1 and 2
Shown in In this apparatus, first, the pallet 1 like a traditional pallet shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of bottomed battery holding hole 2 is formed. Bottom 2a of battery holding hole 2
Is formed with an insertion hole 4 for a power supply terminal which also reaches the lower surface 1b of the pallet 1, and the battery 3 is inserted into the battery holding hole 2 and held therein. .

The power supply terminal 5a of the lower surface side charging / discharging jig 5 disposed on the lower surface 1b of the pallet 1 has a rod shape of a predetermined length as a whole, and is driven to a position corresponding to the position of the insertion hole 4. They are arranged so that they can move up and down by a mechanism 9. The upper surface side discharge jig 6 has the same structure as the jig shown in FIG. 1 0. As for the charging / discharging, as shown in FIG. 2 , the power supply terminal 5a of the lower surface side charging / discharging jig 5 is driven upward by the driving mechanism 9 and disposed at both ends of the upper surface of the lower surface side charging / discharging jig 5. The member 5b is attached to the lower surface 1b of the pallet 1.
Contact. The power supply terminal 5a pushes up the battery 3 held in the battery holding hole 2 upward. As a result, the battery 3 protrudes from the upper surface 1a of the pallet 1 and its positive terminal 3b
Contacts the power supply terminal 6 a of the upper surface side charging / discharging jig 6.

Therefore, in the space B formed by the pallet 1 and the upper-side charging / discharging jig 6, the battery 3 is arranged with the upper part of the side surface 3c exposed.

The battery 3 is charged and discharged by operating an electric control unit (not shown). In this case, their respective of batteries 3 protrude from the top surface 1a of the pallet 1,
In the space B, since the upper portion of the side surface 3c is exposed, the exposed surface 3c becomes a radiating surface, compared to the conventional case shown in FIG. 1 0, heat dissipation is improved.

However, in the space B, the convection of air is lower at the center of the pallet 1 than at the periphery thereof.
The heat dissipation of the battery held there is worse than the heat dissipation of the battery held at the periphery of the pallet 1. As a result, variations in the temperature rise between the batteries occur, and the resulting discharge capacities of the batteries also vary.

For this reason, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, a blowing means 8 such as a fan is arranged around the space day, and forced air is blown from the blowing means 8 into the space B. By spraying the battery on the exposed surface 3c of the pallet, the heat dissipation is enhanced, thereby preventing the convection of heat in the central portion of the pallet 1 and suppressing the rise of the battery temperature in the space B and the occurrence of the variation.

At this time, the heat radiation of the battery depends on the number and arrangement density of the batteries 3 arranged in the space B, the size of the exposed surface 3c of the battery 3, the amount of air blown by the blower 8, the blower 8
Is affected by factors such as the location and number of devices. For example, regarding the exposed surface 3c of the battery 3, it is preferable that 40% or more of the entire surface is exposed. The width of the exposed surface 3c changes the height of the member 5b.
By, can it to adjust accordingly. Further, if the amount of air is too small, air may not be reliably blown to the center of the pallet 1 and may vary depending on other factors. Usually, however, it is preferably set to 0.5 m ³ / min or more. . Further, the location and the number of the air blowing means 8 are not limited to one air flow in one direction as shown in FIG. A mode in which air is blown from a direction may be used.

[0021]

[Example] (1) Effect of air blowing during charging A diameter of 14 mm , a height of 48 mm , and a rated capacity of 1100 mA
h. A cylindrical nickel-hydrogen secondary battery was manufactured according to a conventional method. On the other hand, a pallet as shown in FIG. 8 was prepared.
A pallet in which 100 battery holding holes 2 having a diameter of 16.5 mm and a depth of 35 mm are formed in lattice planes in the plane.

The above-mentioned battery 3 was accommodated in the battery holding hole 2 of the pallet 1. At this time, 30% of the surface area of the accommodated battery is exposed. Then, as shown in FIG. 1 0, arranged a jig 6,5 for charging and discharging the upper and lower side of the pallet 1, with 1C in the lower room (23 ° C.) 1
The battery was charged 10%. The temperature of each battery at the end of charging was measured, and the results are shown in FIG. 3 (Comparative Example).

On the other hand, charging was carried out while blowing air in one direction at a flow rate of 6 m ³ / min between the pallet 1 and the upper jig 6, and the temperature of the battery at the end of charging was measured. The results are shown in FIG. 4 (Example). As is clear from FIGS. 3 and 4, in the case of the conventional charging without blowing air, the temperature of the battery rises to 45 ° C. or more, and the battery temperature varies depending on the location where the battery is disposed.

However, when the air blowing operation is performed as in the case of the present invention, the rise in the battery temperature is greatly suppressed, and the variation in the battery temperature depending on the location is also reduced.
Thus, it can be seen that performing the blowing operation during charging is preferable in that the increase in battery temperature can be suppressed and the variation can be reduced. Next, the battery at the end of charging was discharged at 0.2 C at room temperature (23 ° C.), and the battery capacity of all the batteries was measured.

FIG. 5 shows a comparative example in which no air is blown during charging.5
Fig. 3 shows the case of the embodiment where air was blown during charging.6Shown in
did. In the case of the comparative example, the average value of the battery capacity was 114
9mA h, The deviation is 28mAhIs the place of the embodiment.
In this case, the average value of the battery capacity is 1164mAh, The deviation is 2
4mAhMet. Figure5And figure6As is evident from the book
The battery that has been subjected to the initial activation process according to the invention method has a battery capacity of
And the variation in capacitance is small.

As described above, when the air blowing operation is performed when charging the batteries arranged on the pallet all at once, the rise in the battery temperature is suppressed, and the temperature variation is reduced. As a result, a high-capacity battery can be used. It can be manufactured stably.

[0028] (2) containing a nickel-hydrogen rechargeable batteries in which the influence and the exposed surface area of the battery in the battery holding hole 2 of pallet 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 at the time of charging. The dimensions and shape of the pallet 1 are the same as those of the pallet described above.
It is also the same that can accommodate 100 batteries.

Then, as shown in FIG.
The lower surface side charging / discharging jig 5 of the present invention is disposed on the lower surface 1b of the above, and the power supply terminal 5a is driven upward. By changing the height of the member 5b at this time, the area of the exposed surface 3c of the battery 3 in the space B was changed. In this state, the battery temperature was measured while charging at 1 C at room temperature (23 ° C.). The result is shown in FIG. 7 as a relationship between the charging time and the battery temperature. The battery temperature shown here is
It is an average value.

In the figure, the line a indicates the ratio of the exposed surface when the ratio of the exposed surface 3c is set to 20% with respect to the entire surface and the space B is blown at a flow rate of 6 m ³ / min. Is set to 20% of the entire surface, and when air is not blown into the space B, the line b
Sets the ratio of the exposed surface 3c to 40% of the total surface,
When the air is blown into the space B at a flow rate of 6 m ³ / min , the line b ′ makes the ratio of the exposed surface 40% with respect to the entire surface, and when the air is not blown into the space B, the line c becomes the line of the exposed surface 3c. The ratio is set to 60% with respect to the entire surface, and 6 m ³ / min is set in the space B.
The line c ′ indicates the case where the ratio of the exposed surface is set to 60% with respect to the entire surface, and the air is not blown into the space B when the air is blown at the amount of air.

In the figure, line a and line a ', line b and line b', line c
As is clear from the comparison between the graph and the line c ', in the case of the method of the present invention in which air is blown into the space B during charging, the rise in battery temperature is suppressed in each case. As is clear from comparison of the lines a, b, and c, the battery temperature decreases as the ratio of the exposed surface of the battery in the space B increases. This is a result of the improved heat dissipation of the battery.

[0032]

As is clear from the above description, according to the charging / discharging method of the present invention, when the batteries arranged on the pallet are collectively subjected to the initial activation process, the temperature rise of these batteries is suppressed. And temperature variations are reduced. As a result, a battery having a high battery capacity and a small capacity variation can be stably manufactured.

This exposes the battery surface during charge and discharge,
Moreover, this is an effect obtained by forcibly blowing air to the exposed surface to enhance the heat dissipation of the battery.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing a main part of a charge / discharge device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing a state in which the charge / discharge device of the present invention is operated.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which a battery is placed on a pallet when charged by a conventional method .
FIG. 4 is a temperature distribution diagram showing the temperature of a battery that has been charged .

FIG. 4 shows an arrangement on a pallet when charged by the method of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a temperature distribution diagram showing the temperature of a battery that has been burned .

FIG. 5 shows the capacity and number of batteries obtained by a conventional charging method.
6 is a graph showing the relationship of.

FIG. 6 shows the capacity and the number of batteries obtained by the charging method of the present invention.
6 is a graph showing a relationship with the graph .

FIG. 7 is a graph showing a relationship between charging time and battery temperature .

Partially cutaway oblique shown 8 batteries of accommodating jig (pallet)
FIG .

[9] One showing a state in which housing the battery to the pallet of FIG. 8
It is a partial cutaway sectional view .

FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing a state in which a conventional charge / discharge device is operated .

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pallet 1a Upper surface of pallet 1 1b Lower surface of pallet 1 2 Battery holding hole 2a Bottom of battery holding hole 2 3 Secondary battery 3a Lower end surface (negative electrode terminal) of secondary battery 3b Positive terminal of secondary battery 3 3c Secondary Exposed surface of battery 3 4 Insertion hole for power supply terminal 5 Lower side charge / discharge jig 5a Power supply terminal 5b member 6 Upper side charge / discharge jig 6a Power supply terminal 7 Bar (guide section) 8 Fan (blower means) 9 Drive mechanism A The space surrounded by the bar material B The space formed by the pallet 1 and the upper-side charge / discharge jig 6

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01M 10/42-10/48 H01M 10/00-10/34

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A bottom of the battery holding hole in the secondary battery of the pallet having a plurality of bottomed battery holding hole inserting holding the insertion hole of the power supply terminals are formed on the lower of the secondary battery When charging and discharging the secondary battery by connecting a power supply terminal to each of the end face and the positive terminal, the secondary battery inserted and held in the battery holding hole is charged and discharged.
To protrude from the surface on <br/> surface of the battery holding hole by pushing up from below by the power supply terminal, and held in a state of exposing the surface of the secondary battery, while blowing the exposed surface of the secondary battery A charging / discharging method for a secondary battery, comprising charging and discharging. 2. A pallet having a plurality of bottomed battery holding holes having an insertion hole for a power terminal formed in a bottom portion, and a surface position provided on a lower surface side of the pallet and corresponding to the insertion hole. A lower-side charging / discharging jig on which a power supply terminal for charging / discharging that can move up and down and can push up a battery is arranged; and a battery holding hole disposed on an upper surface side of the pallet. An upper surface side charging / discharging jig in which power supply terminals for charging / discharging are arranged at a surface position corresponding to a positive electrode terminal of the battery held by the above; a space formed by the pallet and the upper side side charging / discharging jig And a blower for blowing air to the battery.