JP3302789B2 - Sealant application device for sealed batteries - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for applying a sealing agent for a sealed battery, for example, for applying a sealing solvent to a rectangular sealed battery prior to sealing by caulking. The present invention relates to a sealant application device for a sealed battery having a technology for automatically applying a sealant.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a process of assembling a small-sized rectangular sealed battery or the like, as shown in FIG. After that, sealing by caulking is performed. Reference numeral 4 denotes a battery electrode piece connected to the electrode 2. By the way, such a rectangular sealed battery has a problem that a pressure change occurs in the battery case when the battery is charged and discharged, and the electrolyte sometimes leaks from the sealed portion of the sealed lid 3.

Therefore, conventionally, prior to covering the upper part of the battery case 1 with the sealing cover 3, a sealing agent 5 for sealing is applied to the inner wall portion of the battery case 1 serving as a sealing portion of the sealing cover 3, and then the sealing cover 3 is closed. And caulking is performed. At this time,
Since the area of the opening at the top of the battery case 1 is small, the sealant 5 is applied manually using only a brush.

[0004]

However, the application of the sealant as described above is a manual operation, and therefore has problems in terms of work efficiency and cost. Work efficiency is poor,
There were many variations in quality, and automation was also difficult due to the small opening area at the top of the battery case 1.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a sealing device that can appropriately and automatically apply a sealant to an inner wall serving as a sealed portion of a battery case when a sealed battery is sealed by caulking. An object of the present invention is to provide a device for applying a sealant for a battery.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to the claims is directed to applying a sealing agent to an inner wall of a battery case, which is a sealed portion , before covering a sealing lid with an electrode on the upper portion of the battery case. An XY-axis driving source for moving an XY-axis moving table in the XY-axis direction;
A rotary drive source installed on a Y-axis moving table;
-Attached perpendicular to the Y-axis moving table,
A rotation mechanism that rotates by receiving the rotation driving force from the rotation drive source, and emits a sealant suspended from the tip of the rotation mechanism and supplied from outside through the rotation mechanism toward the inner wall of the battery case. The enabled nozzle and the nozzle set toward the inner wall of the battery case, which is a sealed portion above the battery case, are applied.
Wherein X-Y-axis moving table along the inner wall shape of the battery case
With controlling the movement, move along said battery container inner wall shape
When moving , the sealant is applied to a sealed battery provided with nozzle attitude control means for controlling the rotation of the opening of the nozzle toward the inner wall of the battery case by the rotation mechanism via the rotation drive source. Device.

[0007]

Accordingly, the invention corresponding to the claims has taken the above-described means, so that the XY-axis driving source can supply the XY-axis.
After the nozzle is brought into contact with the inner wall of the battery case while moving the axis moving table in the X-Y axis direction, a sealing agent is applied to the inner wall of the battery case, which is a sealed portion, from the nozzle tip opening, and the nozzle attitude control means When the nozzle is moved in the XY axis direction via the XY axis moving table according to the inner wall shape of the battery case and moves along the inner shape of the battery case, the rotation drive source and the rotation Mechanism to open the nozzle
If the opening is controlled so as to face the inner wall of the battery case, the sealant can be automatically applied over the entire inner wall of the battery case.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a device for applying a sealant for a battery according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a positional relationship between an inner wall of a battery case and a nozzle at the time of applying the sealant, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a moving path of a nozzle when a sealant is applied to an inner wall of a battery case. In addition,
In these figures, the same parts as those in the related art are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

That is, the present apparatus comprises an X-axis feed table 1
A screw body 13 having a predetermined length is connected to a rotation shaft of the X-axis motor 12 attached to the motor 1. And this screw body 1
3 is fitted with a ball screw 14 that moves in the X-axis direction by the rotation of the rotation shaft of the X-axis motor 12.

On the ball screw 14, a Y-axis feed table 17 that can move in the X-axis direction via an X-axis moving table 15 and a linear motion bearing 16 that moves integrally with the ball screw 14 is mounted. The Y-axis feed table 17 is provided with a Y-axis motor 18. This Y-axis motor 1
By rotating a Y-axis rotating shaft 20 via a mechanism (for example, a pulley, a belt) 19 capable of moving the Y-axis,
The Y-axis feed table 17 is moved in the Y-axis direction by moving the Y-axis feed table 17 in the Y-axis direction or by rotating the Y-axis rotation shaft 20 directly connected to the rotation axis of the Y-axis motor 18. .

An XY-axis moving table 23 is mounted on the Y-axis feed table 17 via a mounting table 21 and a linear motion bearing 22. Therefore, this X-
The Y-axis moving table 23 is configured to be movable in a required XY-axis direction by driving the X-axis motor 12 and the Y-axis motor 18.

A rotary shaft motor 24 is mounted on the XY axis moving table 23.
Is transmitted to a rotary head 28 rotatably attached to the XY-axis moving table 23 via a pulley 25, a belt 26 and a pulley 27. A noise 30 for emitting a sealant through a nozzle adjusting screw 29 is attached to a lower end portion of the rotary head 28 substantially on the central axis. The sealant is supplied to the noise 30 from an external dispenser (not shown) via a supply pipe 31 that penetrates substantially on the central axis of the rotary head 28. The nozzle adjusting screw 29 has a function of adjusting the position of the nozzle 30 in the radial direction of the rotation axis.

A battery support 41 is provided immediately below the nozzle 30, and the battery case 1 is gripped by a pair of clamp claws 42 provided on the battery support 41. The clamp claw 42 opens the battery case 1 already being gripped, for example, at predetermined time intervals, and subsequently grips a new battery case 1 to be carried in.

The X-axis motor 12, the Y-axis motor 1
Although not shown, the motor 8 and the rotary shaft motor 24 are controlled by a nozzle attitude control means 33 using a controller or the like. The nozzle attitude control means 33 may control the driving of each of the motors 12, 18, 24 based on the output of a sensor installed at an appropriate position, or may control the driving of each of the motors 12, 18, 1 according to a predetermined program control.
Drives 8 and 24 may be controlled. In other words, the nozzle attitude control means 33 uses the X-axis motor 12 and the Y-axis motor
The shaft motor 18 is driven to set the nozzle 30 to be in contact with the inner wall of the battery case 1, and the nozzle 30 is turned in the radial direction of the rotating shaft via the rotating shaft motor 24 and the rotating head 28. By driving the X-axis motor 12 and the Y-axis motor 15, it is possible to control the nozzle 30 to move with a predetermined rotation locus.

As shown in FIG. 2, the opening at the tip of the nozzle 30 is formed in a curved shape so as to face outward, that is, toward the inner wall of the battery case 1, which is a sealed portion, from the viewpoint of preventing the dripping of the sealant. In order to ensure that the sealing agent adheres to the inner wall of the battery case 1 serving as a sealed portion, the opening is formed to have a slight taper with respect to the wall surface of the battery case 1. Therefore, when the nozzle opening surface is in contact with the wall of the battery case 1, the lower end of the nozzle opening surface has a slight gap from the inner wall of the battery case 1, and is suitable for the portion of the inner wall of the battery case 1 that requires the most sealing agent. It is possible to apply a sealant to the surface.

Next, the operation of the above-described sealant application device for a sealed battery will be described. Now, by manual work,
Alternatively, when the battery case 1 is carried into a predetermined positioning position of the clamp claws 42 by using a carry-in device (not shown), the pair of clamp claws 42 perform a closing operation to grip and fix the battery case 1.
At this time, the tip portion of the nozzle 30 is in a state of waiting at the center position of the battery case 1 with the nozzle opening surface facing outward.

In this way, the nozzle 30 is
After positioning, the X-axis motor 12 and the Y-axis motor 118 are driven to rotate, for example, to move the nozzle opening surface at the tip of the nozzle to a position where it contacts the inner wall surface of the battery case 1 as shown in FIG. At this time, since the nozzle opening surface is machined by a constant tapered portion so as to secure a clearance with the inner wall surface of the battery case 1, the upper end portion of the nozzle opening surface is in point contact with the inner surface of the battery case. .

In this state, while supplying the sealant to the nozzle 30 from the external dispenser through the supply pipe 31 to the nozzle 30, the XY-axis moving table is moved in accordance with a predetermined locus while appropriately driving the X-axis motor 12 and the Y-axis motor 18. When the movement of the nozzle 23 is controlled, the nozzle 30 is a → b → as shown in FIG.
The sealant 5 is applied to the inner wall of the battery case while moving in the order of the arrows c → d. At this time, the sealing agent 5 supplied from the tip of the nozzle is
Thus, the sealant can be appropriately applied to the inner wall of the battery case by staying in the clearance with zero.

The nozzle 30 is always in point contact with the inner wall surface of the battery case during its movement path, and when the nozzle 30 goes around from the corner of the battery case 1 to the inner wall surface of the next side, the rotary shaft motor 2
The sealant 5 is applied to the inner wall surface of the battery case while maintaining the point contact while changing the direction by 90 ° via the rotary head 4 and the rotary head 28, so that the sealant 5 can be quickly and continuously applied over the entire circumference of the inner wall of the battery case 1. Can be applied.

The application of the sealant 5 by the nozzle 30 may be repeated not only once but also plural times over the entire inner wall of the battery case 1. Further, although an example in which the sealing agent 24 is applied to a square sealed battery has been described, a round sealed battery may be used, or other square sealed batteries may be similarly applied. In addition, the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist thereof.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, a sealing agent is appropriately and automatically applied to the inner wall of a battery case, which is a sealed portion of the battery case, prior to sealing the sealing lid on the upper portion of the battery case. Thus, it is possible to provide a sealant applying device for a sealed battery that can efficiently perform a sealant applying operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a sealant application device for a sealed battery according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between an inner wall of a battery case and a nozzle at the time of applying a sealant.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a moving path of a nozzle when a sealant is applied to an inner wall of a battery case using the nozzle.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of a conventional rectangular sealed battery.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Battery case, 3 ... Sealing lid, 5 ... Sealant, 11 ... X-axis table, 12 ... X-axis motor, 17 ... Y-axis table, 18 ...
Y-axis motor, 23: X-Y axis moving table, 24: rotary shaft motor, 28: rotary head, 30: nozzle, 33 ...
Nozzle attitude control means.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An apparatus for applying a sealant to an inner wall of a battery case serving as a sealed portion prior to sealing a sealing lid with an electrode on an upper portion of the battery case, wherein an XY axis moving table is moved in the XY axis direction. Let X
A Y-axis drive source, a rotary drive source installed on the XY-axis moving table, and a rotary drive source mounted orthogonal to the XY-axis moving table and receiving a rotary driving force from the rotary drive source. a rotating mechanism for rotating Te, the rotation mechanism of the purchase decisions hanging at the tip, a nozzle which enables emitted toward the battery container inner wall a sealing agent supplied through the interior rotating mechanism from the outside, the battery case upper Set toward the inner wall of the battery case
X-shaped nozzle along the shape of the inner wall of the battery case
While controlling the movement of the Y-axis moving table and moving along the inner wall shape of the battery case , the opening of the nozzle is moved inside the battery case by the rotating mechanism via the rotary drive source .
A sealant application device for a sealed battery, comprising: nozzle attitude control means for controlling rotation to face a wall .