JP3998740B2 - Li battery manufacturing method and Li metal piece transfer device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a Li battery using Li metal as a negative electrode active material, and a transfer apparatus suitable for transferring and arranging a Li metal piece in a Li battery manufacturing process.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Li batteries equipped with Li metal as a negative electrode active material are widely used as power sources for driving, for example, watches and small calculators, because they are high-performance and compact. Also, this type of Li battery is usually manufactured by the following process.
[0003]
3 (a) to 3 (e) are cross-sectional views schematically showing the assembled state in the manufacturing process. First, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the positive electrode is placed in the outer can 1 with one end serving as the positive electrode open. The element 2 is positioned and stored. Here, the positive electrode element 2 is formed of a mesh-like positive electrode current collector 2a and a plate-like positive electrode mixture 2b. At this stage, the positive electrode element 2 is filled and impregnated with an organic electrolytic solution (non-aqueous electrolytic solution). Next, as shown in FIG. Is disposed. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), a Li electrode assembly 6 is prepared, in which a Li metal piece 5 is transferred and positioned and crimped on the inner bottom surface of a sealing body 4 that also serves as a negative electrode. Here, the Li metal piece 5 is a block cut or punched from the Li metal rod or the Li metal plate 7 as shown in a perspective view in FIG. 4, and the Li metal piece 5 is the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4. Li electrode assembly 6 is formed by pressure bonding.
[0004]
Note that the transfer and positioning of the Li metal piece 5 on the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4 is performed by a vacuum air jig 8. That is, the suction end surface of the vacuum air jig 8 is brought into contact with the surface of the Li metal piece 5 and held by the vacuum suction method, and is transferred to the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4 and positioned and arranged.
[0005]
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3 (d), the gasket 9 is interposed in the opening of the outer can 1, and the Li electrode assembly 6, that is, the sealing body 4 to which the Li metal piece 5 is crimped is positioned. Next, the sealing body 4 is caulked and sealed to the opening of the outer can 1 while being electrically insulated from each other by the gasket 9 to produce a Li battery having a structure as shown in FIG.
[0006]
In the above description, the outer can 1 is also used as a positive electrode, and the sealing body 4 is also used as a negative electrode. However, the outer can 1 is replaced with a negative electrode and the sealing body 4 is replaced with a positive electrode. There is also.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the following inconveniences are recognized in the manufacturing method of the Li battery. That is, the Li metal piece 5 cut or punched from the Li metal rod or the Li metal plate 7 is transferred and positioned, for example, on the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4 by the vacuum air jig 8. Yes. In other words, the suction end face of the vacuum air jig 8 is brought into contact with the surface of the Li metal piece 5 and held by the vacuum suction method, and transferred to the inner bottom face of the sealing body 4 to be positioned and arranged. Yes.
[0008]
Here, if the suction surface of the Li metal piece 5 is inferior in flatness or smoothness to the suction end surface of the vacuum air jig 8, so-called air leakage occurs and sufficient holding is not performed. Necessary transfer and transportation become difficult. On the contrary, when the attracted surface of the Li metal piece 5 has good flatness or smoothness, it adheres to the attracting end face of the vacuum air jig 8 in combination with the good adhesion of the Li metal piece 5. In addition, transfer and transportation are facilitated by sufficient holding ability. However, the adhesion of the good Li metal piece 5 is damaged, and it tends to be difficult to be detached from the suction end face of the vacuum air jig 8. There are things you can't do.
[0009]
In any case, the transfer and transfer of the Li metal piece 5 using the conventional vacuum air jig 8 have problems in terms of productivity, yield, etc., and an improved countermeasure is awaited. It can be said that.
[0010]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and by adopting a means capable of reliably and easily transferring and transporting a Li metal piece, a reliable Li battery has a good yield. And a Li metal piece transfer device suitable for manufacturing a Li battery.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the tip of the metal needle of the transfer jig is inserted and held in the Li metal piece, and is transferred and stored on the bottom surface of the sealing body that also serves as the negative electrode terminal. In the method of manufacturing a Li battery having a step of crimping to the inner bottom surface of the sealing body or outer can also serving as a transfer body, when the Li metal piece is transferred to, stored in, and disposed on the inner bottom surface of the sealing body or outer can a method for producing a Li battery, characterized in that is interposed stabbed addition unit nonaqueous of releasing liquid fixings metal Seihari tip and Li metal pieces.
[0012]
The invention of claim 2 includes a cylindrical jig body, a tubular metal needle attached to one end side of the jig body so as to be capable of moving back and forth in the axial direction, and the other end of the jig body. It mounted on the side and includes a spring for supporting the metallic needle Tamabachi manner, and the jig nozzle releasing liquid supply of the nonaqueous of being inserted out can attached to the other end of the body It is the transfer apparatus of the Li metal piece characterized by the above-mentioned.
[0013]
In other words, the present invention performs smooth transfer, transport, positioning and placement by virtue of the strong adhesion of Li metal to other substances, while the adhesion of Li metal is selectively achieved through the intervention of a non-aqueous releasable liquid. The main point is that Li metal is easily removed from the support side. Here, the outer can generally serves as the positive electrode, and the sealing body 4 serves as the negative electrode. Conversely, the outer can serves as the negative electrode side and the sealing body serves as the positive electrode side. Sometimes taken.
[0014]
In the present invention, the nonaqueous of releasing liquid, as it has the effect of giving a chemically stable, and by including reducing the adhesion of metallic Li releasability to withdrawal against Li metal Examples thereof include propylene carbonate.
[0015]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the Li battery manufacturing method, when the Li metal piece is transferred / stored on the inner bottom surface of the sealing body that also serves as the negative electrode, the tip of the metal needle of the transfer jig and the Li metal by interposing a releasing liquid nonaqueous resistance to puncture addition unit pieces, it becomes easier to separation of the metal needle, is avoided, such as positional deviation after positioning of the Li metal pieces, high-quality Li Batteries are provided with good yield.
[0016]
In the invention of claim 2, since the Li metal piece can be positioned and pressed with high precision on the inner bottom surface of a sealing body that also serves as a negative electrode, a high-quality Li electrode assembly is provided with good yield and mass production. This will greatly contribute to the mass production of Li batteries.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
[0018]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a main configuration of a Li metal piece transfer device according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 schematically shows a mode in which the Li metal piece is transferred and conveyed by the Li metal piece transfer device. It is a perspective view. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a cylindrical jig body, and 11 denotes a metal needle attached to one end side of the jig body 10 so as to be capable of moving back and forth in the axial direction. Here, the jig main body 10 is formed in a cylindrical shape with a stepped outer diameter, and the inner diameter is stepped corresponding to the outer diameter, and the metal needle 11 is fitted to the small diameter portion. In addition, it is mounted so that the liquid can flow along the outer peripheral surface of the metal needle 11.
[0019]
12 is a spring that is attached to the other end side (large inner diameter side) of the jig body 10 and elastically presses and supports the top end surface of the metal needle 11; spring 12 is releasing liquid supply nozzle of the can mounted to the non-aqueous soluble out into the mounting side. Here, releasing liquid supply nozzle 13 of the non-aqueous properties is composed of a nonaqueous of releasing liquid supply pipe 13a and the reduced diameter nozzle 13b mounted on the pipe 13a tip.
[0020]
Then, the transfer and transfer of the Li metal piece by the transfer device 14 is performed by holding and detaching the metal needle 11 tip with respect to the Li metal piece by the advancement and retraction of the metal needle 11, and the metal metal at the time of detachment. This is performed by the flow of liquid along the outer peripheral surface of the needle 11. Incidentally, the flow of the liquid, supply pressure of the nonaqueous of releasing liquid, or is controlled by such advancing and retracting of the metal needle 11 by the compression force of the spring 12.
[0021]
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the Li metal piece transfer device 14. First, the tip of the metal needle 11 is inserted and held with respect to the Li metal piece 5 cut or punched from the Li metal rod (or Li metal plate) 7. In this state, it is transferred and conveyed to a predetermined position, for example, the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4 that also serves as a negative electrode for a button-type battery, and is positioned. That is, the metal to Li metal strip 5 tip and held by inserting the needle 11, when the inner bottom surface and transferred and positioning in the sealing member 4, a non-water from the releasing liquid supply nozzle 13 of the non-aqueous soluble A releasable liquid (for example, propylene carbonate) is supplied.
[0022]
Here, the supplied non-aqueous properties of releasing liquid reaches the Li metal strip 5 which tip is inserted along the metal needle 11 outer circumferential surface, the adhesion of Li metal strip 5 is relatively Change and easily disengage from the metal needle 11 side. That is, since the adhesion of Li metal strip 5 is lowered by the releasability of the nonaqueous of releasing liquid, while easily separated from the metal needle 11, Li metal pieces in contact against the inner bottom surface of the sealing member 4 Since the five surfaces still retain good adhesion, they are arranged and pressure-bonded without causing misalignment or the like on the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4.
[0023]
Next, an example of a Li battery manufacturing method using the Li metal piece transfer device will be described.
[0024]
The basic manufacturing process is the same as the conventional one, and will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 (a) to 3 (e). First, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the positive electrode element 2 is positioned and accommodated in the outer can 1 which is open at one end also serving as the positive electrode. Here, the positive electrode element 2 is formed of a mesh-like positive electrode current collector 2a and a plate-like positive electrode mixture 2b. At this stage, the positive electrode element 2 is filled and impregnated with an organic electrolytic solution (non-aqueous electrolytic solution). Next, as shown in FIG. Is disposed. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), a Li electrode assembly 6 is prepared, in which a Li metal piece 5 is transferred and positioned and crimped on the inner bottom surface of a sealing body 4 that also serves as a negative electrode. Here, the Li metal piece 5 is a block cut from the Li metal rod 7 as shown in FIG. 2 in perspective, and this Li metal piece 5 is transferred to the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4. Place, transport and position. That is, for Li metal strip 5, and held by inserting the tip of the metal needle 11, while to transfer and transport to the inner bottom surface of the sealing member 4 is positioned and arranged, at this point, the nonaqueous of the release Propylene carbonate is supplied from the nozzle 13 for supplying the functional liquid. Here, the supplied propylene carbonate flows to Li metal strip 5 along the metallic needle 11 outer circumferential surface, wet the inserted metal needle 11 tip region, adhesion of the wet area of the Li metal strip 5 The metal needle 11 is provided with a releasability or a releasability. That is, while the metal needle 11 is easily detached, the Li metal piece 5 surface that is in contact with the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4 is disposed without causing misalignment on the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4 due to good adhesion. Crimped.
[0025]
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3 (d), the gasket 9 is interposed in the opening of the outer can 1, and the Li electrode assembly 6, that is, the sealing body 4 to which the Li metal piece 5 is crimped is positioned. Next, the sealing body 4 is caulked and sealed to the opening of the outer can 1 while being electrically insulated from each other by the gasket 9, whereby a Li battery having a structure as shown in FIG.
[0026]
In the method for manufacturing the Li battery, the cut and separated Li metal piece can be accurately positioned and pressure-bonded, for example, on the bottom surface of the sealed body without causing misalignment. Here, the ability to easily provide a highly accurate Li electrode structure means that the battery reaction area can be secured sufficiently and stably for the corresponding electrode components housed and arranged in the outer can, for example. This will greatly contribute to mass production of high-performance Li batteries and yield improvement.
[0027]
In the method of manufacturing the Li battery, a Li metal piece 5 is pressure-bonded to the outer can 1 side, a separator 3 is disposed on the upper surface thereof, and a sealing body 4 having a positive electrode element 2 mounted on the inner bottom surface is used for the outer can. The same result can be obtained even if the configuration for sealing the opening is adopted.
[0028]
In addition, this invention is not limited to the said illustration, A various deformation | transformation can be taken in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of invention. For example, the cross-sectional shape and dimensions of the Li metal rod can be appropriately selected depending on the type and size of the Li battery.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the Li metal piece is transferred / stored on the inner bottom surface of the sealing body or the like, the metal needle tip of the transfer jig is inserted (pierced), and the held Li metal After the piece is positioned, the metal needle and the Li metal piece are easily separated from each other, and displacement of the Li metal piece is avoided, so that a high-quality Li battery can be provided with a high yield. According to the invention of claim 2, since the Li metal piece can be transferred and transported to the bottom surface of the sealed body, etc., and positioned and pressure-bonded with high accuracy, a high-quality Li electrode assembly can be produced with high yield and mass production. Can be provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a main configuration of a Li metal piece transfer apparatus according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing how the Li metal piece transfer device shown in FIG. 1 is used.
FIGS. 3A to 3E are cross-sectional views schematically showing the steps of manufacturing a Li battery in the order of steps.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing a usage mode of a conventional Li metal piece transfer device.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 …… Outer can (positive terminal)
2 …… Positive element part
2a …… Positive electrode current collector
2b …… Positive electrode inclusion 3 …… Separator 4 …… Sealing body (negative electrode terminal)
5 …… Li metal piece (negative electrode)
6 …… Li electrode structure 7 …… Li rod (Li plate)
8 ... Vacuum air jig 9 ... Gasket
10 …… Jig body
11 …… Metal needle
12 …… Spring
13 ...... nonaqueous of the release-made liquid supply nozzle
14 …… Li metal piece transfer equipment

Claims (2)

The tip of the metal needle of the transfer jig is inserted and held in a Li metal piece, transferred and stored on the inner bottom surface of the sealing body or outer can that also serves as the negative electrode terminal, and this Li metal piece is crimped to the inner bottom surface of the container In the method of manufacturing a Li battery having a step of transferring, when the Li metal piece is transferred to, stored in, and detached from the inner bottom surface of the sealing body or outer can, the metal needle tip of the transfer jig and Li method for producing a battery, characterized in that interposing a stab addition unit in a nonaqueous of releasing liquid. A cylindrical jig body;
A tubular metal needle attached to one end side in the jig body so as to be capable of moving back and forth in the axial direction;
A spring that is attached to the other end of the jig body and elastically supports the metal needle;
The jig Li metal strip transfer device, characterized in that it comprises a releasing liquid supply nozzle of the can mounted to the non-aqueous soluble out into the other end of the body.

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