JP4243816B2 - Battery plate manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a battery electrode plate such as a lead storage battery, a nickel cadmium storage battery, or a silver oxide-zinc storage battery in which an electrode plate is sandwiched between flexible separators.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent lead-acid batteries, flexible separators that can be bent using glass fiber are used. As shown in FIG. 8, the flexible separator 2 is bent at the center to form a U-shape, and the positive electrode plate 1 is sandwiched between them.
[0003]
An example of a conventional battery electrode plate manufacturing apparatus in which the positive electrode plate 1 is sandwiched between flexible separators 2 will be described. As shown in FIG. 9, the flexible separator 2 is fed between the lower guide plates 12 through the conveying roller 11 while being long. Then, when the cutter 13 is cut to a predetermined length, as shown in FIG. 10, it falls between the guide plates 12 until it hits the stopper 14 and is positioned in a vertical state. The flexible separator 2 is formed so that the center portion of a predetermined length is pressed by the pressing plate 15 before being cut by the cutter 13 to form the concave portion 2a along the width direction so that it can be easily bent. .
[0004]
On the back side of the guide plate 12, a bent guide portion 12a is formed by bending the guide plate 12 from above and below with a large curvature toward the rear. In addition, on the front side of the guide plate 12, the positive electrode plate 1 is disposed in a horizontal state by a conveying device (not shown). And as shown in FIG. 11, by pushing out this positive electrode plate 1 toward the back from the clearance gap between the guide plates 12, the center part of the flexible separator 2 is pressed and it follows the curve of the bending guide part 12a. Bend it. Then, as shown in FIG. 12, this flexible separator 2 is folded in two at the recess 2a and the positive electrode plate 1 is sandwiched. As shown in FIG. 13, the positive electrode plate 1 is further pushed out from the back side of the guide plate 12 together with the flexible separator 2, and is fitted into the groove of the carrier 16 arranged here. Include. The carrier 16 rotates together with a turntable (not shown), so that the positive electrode plate 1 can be taken out while being sandwiched between the flexible separators 2.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above manufacturing apparatus, even if the flexible separator 2 is cut by the cutter 13 and falls to the position of the stopper 14 by its own weight, it does not immediately stop at a predetermined position due to rebound or the like. For this reason, in order to increase the speed of the production line, if the timing of pushing out the positive electrode plate 1 is advanced, the flexible separator 2 is bent in an oblique state as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 15, there is a risk that the flexible separator 2 may be misaligned, or the flexible separator 2 may be bent in a slightly floating state, and the front and back flexible separators 2 sandwiching the positive electrode plate 1 may be displaced. .
[0006]
For this reason, in the conventional battery electrode plate manufacturing apparatus, if it becomes difficult to speed up the process of sandwiching the positive electrode plate 1 with the flexible separator 2 or a certain amount of discrepancy or misalignment is allowed, the battery has a lot of wasted space. There was a problem.
[0007]
Further, in the conventional battery electrode plate manufacturing apparatus, the flexible separator 2 is bent by being pushed along the bent guide portion 12a of the guide plate 12, so that the bent guide portion 12a and the flexible separator 2 There is also a problem that the glass fiber is easily cracked by friction, and the yield is lowered due to defective parts.
[0008]
The present invention has been made to cope with such a situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a battery electrode plate manufacturing apparatus capable of bending a flexible separator at high speed with high accuracy and sandwiching the electrode plate.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The method for manufacturing a battery electrode plate according to claim 1 includes a step of conveying and positioning the flexible separator to a predetermined position in a substantially horizontal state, and the electrode plate substantially vertically at a substantially central portion above the separator at the predetermined position. And a step of lifting the both sides of the separator higher toward the end and bringing them into close contact with both sides of the central electrode plate.
According to the invention of claim 1, since the flexible separator is conveyed to a predetermined position in a horizontal state, it can be immediately stopped at the predetermined position even if it is operated at a high speed. Moreover, since this flexible separator is lifted on both sides and brought into close contact with both surfaces of the electrode plate, it is not possible to apply an excessive frictional force.
The battery electrode plate manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2 includes a separator conveying device that conveys and positions the flexible separator to a predetermined position in a substantially horizontal state, and an electrode plate substantially at a center portion above the separator at the predetermined position. It is placed on both sides of the electrode plate support device placed in a vertical state and below the separator at a predetermined position, and the both sides of the separator are lifted higher toward the end by swinging, and are in close contact with both sides of the electrode plate in the center And a folding guide that is sandwiched between them.
[0010]
According to the invention of claim 2 , since the flexible separator is conveyed to a predetermined position in a horizontal state, it can be immediately stopped at the predetermined position even if it is operated at a high speed. In addition, since the flexible separator is supported on both sides of the lower surface by the bending guide and lifted by the swinging operation, an excessive frictional force is not applied.
[0011]
The battery electrode plate manufacturing apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein a carrier in which a groove for inserting a separator sandwiching the electrode plate is formed is disposed below the separator at the predetermined position, and the electrode plate support device is a separator. When the electrode plate is sandwiched, the support of the electrode plate is released, and after the electrode plate is sandwiched by the separator, the bending guide grips and descends and inserts it into the groove of the carrier. It is characterized by that.
[0012]
According to the invention of claim 3 , since the flexible separator bent by the bending guide is inserted into the groove of the carrier while sandwiching the electrode plate, the conveyance to the next process is facilitated.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0014]
1 to 8 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a battery electrode plate manufacturing apparatus, FIG. 2 is a front view for explaining the operation of a bending apparatus, and FIG. Is a front view when the bending guide of the bending device is swinging, FIG. 4 is a front view when the bending guide of the bending device has finished bending the flexible separator, and FIG. 5 is held by the bending guide. 6 is a partially enlarged front view showing the positive electrode plate and the flexible separator, and FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged front view for explaining the operation when the positive electrode plate and the flexible separator held between the bending guides are fitted in the groove of the carrier. FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged front view when the positive electrode plate and the flexible separator are fitted in the groove of the carrier. In addition, the same number is attached | subjected to the structural member which has a function similar to the prior art example shown in FIGS.
[0015]
This embodiment demonstrates the apparatus which pinches | interposes the positive electrode plate 1 of a lead storage battery with the flexible separator 2. FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the flexible separator 2 is cut into an elongated rectangular shape and supplied in a horizontal state in front of the extrusion device 3 (upper side in FIG. 1). The flexible separator 2 is made of glass fiber in a mat shape, and may be supplied from the side, for example, as a rectangular shape by cutting a long mat material as in the conventional case. Moreover, the recessed part 2a along the width direction is formed in the center part of the back surface of this flexible separator 2 similarly to the past. When the flexible separator 2 is supplied, the extrusion device 3 pushes the flexible separator 2 forward to bring the side surface into contact with the stopper 4. At this time, since the flexible separator 2 is supported by the guides 7 and 7a arranged to face each other with a substantially L-shaped cross section and slightly wider than the separator long side dimension, the flexible separator 2 slides in the horizontal direction. Even when it comes into contact with the head, there is almost no rebound or the like, and it quickly stops at a predetermined position. And since it is pushed by the front-end | tip of the extrusion apparatus 3, it can position to a predetermined position reliably. In addition, it conveyed along the short side direction so that the conveyance distance of the flexible separator 2 may become short here, However, It is also possible to convey along a long side direction.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 2, the positive electrode plate 1 is disposed above the central portion of the flexible separator 2 in contact with the stopper 4. The positive electrode plate 1 is obtained by filling an expanded sheet of a lead alloy with a positive electrode active material paste, and a lead portion 1a is projected from the side of the upper end portion. The positive electrode plate 1 is not limited to the one using such an expanded sheet or the one having a cast lattice type, but can have any structure. The positive electrode plate 1 is chucked on the side shoulders and sequentially conveyed above the flexible separator 2 by a conveying device (not shown). Further, at this time, the flexible separator 2 is vertically arranged along the width direction above the central portion, and is fixed at a position where the bottom surface is in contact with the surface of the flexible separator 2 or slightly floated.
[0017]
A bending device 5 is disposed below the flexible separator 2 in contact with the stopper 4. The bending device 5 is provided with bending guides 5a and 5a immediately below both sides of the flexible separator 2, respectively. The bending guides 5a and 5a are guide members supported so as to be swingable so that both end sides thereof can move up and down around the lower part of the central portion of the flexible separator 2. When the flexible separator 2 is pushed out to the position of the stopper 4, the bending guides 5 a and 5 a have a guide surface opened almost horizontally, and the flexible separator 2 slides thereon. become. When the flexible separator 2 comes into contact with the stopper 4, a cylinder (not shown) of the bending device 5 pushes up and swings the bending guides 5a and 5a via the crank mechanisms 5b and 5b. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, both sides of the flexible separator 2 whose central portion is pressed by the upper positive electrode plate 1 are lifted up by these bending guides 5a and 5a and bent around the concave portion 2a on the back surface. . Further, when the bending guides 5a and 5a are further swung, as shown in FIG. 4, the guide surfaces of the bending guides 5a and 5a are almost vertical, and the flexible separator is bent on both surfaces of the positive electrode plate 1. 2 are brought into close contact with each other. At this time, the flexible separator 2 is pushed by the bending guides 5a and 5a and swings on both sides around the concave portion 2a on the back surface so as to sandwich the positive electrode plate 1, so that the bending guides 5a and 5a There is almost no friction between the guide surface and the guide surface. For this reason, in the flexible separator 2, the glass fibers are not rubbed and cracked when bent.
[0018]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, carriers 6 and 6 are arranged in the front and rear sides of the flexible separator 2 bent by the bending guides 5 a and 5 a, respectively. These carriers 6 and 6 are conveying tools in which grooves 6a and 6a that are open on the surface facing the upper surface are formed, and are intermittently conveyed in the right direction. Then, when the bending guides 5a and 5a swing to bend the flexible separator 2 and sandwich the positive electrode plate 1, the positive electrode plate 1 is released from chucking and the entire bending device 5 is lowered. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 6, the positive electrode plate 1 and the flexible separator 2 sandwiched between the bending guides 5a and 5a are also lowered simultaneously, and both ends thereof are fitted into the grooves 6a and 6a of the carriers 6 and 6, respectively. Include. Further, when the bending device 5 is sufficiently lowered, the bending guides 5a and 5a swing in the opposite direction to the above to release the clamping of the positive electrode plate 1 and the flexible separator 2, as shown in FIG. The positive electrode plate 1 and the flexible separator 2 are completely fitted into the grooves 6 a and 6 a of the carriers 6 and 6. Thus, the carriers 6 and 6 fitted with the positive electrode plate 1 and the flexible separator 2 are conveyed rightward and sent to the next process, and the next empty carriers 6 and 6 are conveyed to the original positions. . The folding device 5 ascends as a whole and returns to the initial position.
[0019]
The battery electrode plate manufacturing apparatus of this embodiment repeats the above operation to bend the flexible separator 2 and sandwich the positive electrode plate 1. Moreover, since the flexible separator 2 is transported to a predetermined position where it is pushed by the extrusion device 3 in a horizontal state and slides to contact the stopper 4, even if it operates at a high speed, it immediately stops at the predetermined position. be able to. In addition, since the flexible separator 2 is bent by the swinging of the bending guides 5a and 5a, there is no possibility that an excessive frictional force is applied to cause a crack. Furthermore, since the flexible separator 2 sandwiching the positive electrode plate 1 in this way is fitted and held in the grooves 6a and 6a of the carriers 6 and 6, both ends can be easily transported to the next process. .
[0020]
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the flexible separator 2 in which the glass fiber is made into a mat is used has been described. If it is, it will not necessarily be limited to such a thing.
[0021]
Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where the bending guides 5a and 5a of the bending apparatus 5 rock | fluctuate centering on the downward direction of the center part of the flexible separator 2, actual flexibility using a link mechanism etc. was demonstrated. It is also possible to oscillate around the bent portion of the separator 2. In this case, since no friction is generated when the flexible separator 2 is bent, it is possible to reliably prevent the flexible separator 2 from being cracked.
[0022]
Furthermore, although the case where the positive electrode plate 1 is sandwiched between the flexible separators 2 has been described in the above embodiment, the present invention can be similarly applied to the case where the negative electrode plate is sandwiched between the flexible separators 2.
[0023]
Furthermore, although the said embodiment demonstrated the manufacturing apparatus of the electrode plate of lead acid battery, if it is a battery which pinches | interposes an electrode plate with the flexible separator 2, the kind of this battery will not be ask | required.
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
As is clear from the above description, according to the battery electrode plate manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the flexible separator can be transported to a predetermined position in a horizontal state and immediately stopped. The separator can be bent and misaligned and bent, and the productivity can be improved by speeding up the production line, and the precision of parts can be improved and the wasteful space of the battery can be eliminated. .
[0025]
In addition, since the flexible separator is not cracked by friction when it is bent, it is possible to prevent a decrease in yield due to defective components.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a battery electrode plate manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2, showing an embodiment of the present invention, is a front view for explaining the operation of the bending apparatus.
FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a front view when a bending guide of the bending device is swinging.
FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and is a front view when the bending guide of the bending apparatus has finished bending the flexible separator.
FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged front view showing a positive electrode plate and a flexible separator sandwiched between bending guides according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged front view illustrating an embodiment of the present invention and illustrating an operation when a positive electrode plate and a flexible separator sandwiched between bending guides are fitted into a groove of a carrier. is there.
FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged front view showing an embodiment of the present invention when a positive electrode plate and a flexible separator are fitted into a groove of a carrier.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a positive plate sandwiched between flexible separators and a positive plate sandwiched.
FIG. 9 shows a conventional example and is a front view of a battery electrode plate manufacturing apparatus.
FIG. 10 shows a conventional example, and is a front view when a flexible separator is cut and dropped.
FIG. 11 shows a conventional example, and is a partially enlarged front view when a flexible separator is bent.
FIG. 12 is a partially enlarged front view showing a conventional example when a flexible separator is bent.
FIG. 13 is a partially enlarged front view showing a conventional example when a flexible separator sandwiching a positive electrode plate is housed in a carrier.
FIG. 14 is a plan view showing a conventional example in the case where a discrepancy occurs in a flexible separator sandwiching a positive electrode plate.
FIG. 15 is a plan view showing a conventional example in the case where the flexible separator sandwiching the positive electrode plate is displaced.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Positive electrode plate 2 Flexible separator 3 Extruding device 4 Stopper 5 Bending device 5a Bending guide 6 Carrier 6a Groove

Claims (3)

A step of conveying and positioning the flexible separator to a predetermined position in a substantially horizontal state, a step of arranging the electrode plate in a substantially vertical state above the separator at the predetermined position, and both sides of the separator A method of manufacturing a battery electrode plate, comprising: a step of lifting higher toward an end portion, and placing the electrode plate in close contact with both sides of a center electrode plate.   A separator conveying device that conveys and positions the flexible separator to a predetermined position in a substantially horizontal state, and an electrode plate support device that disposes the electrode plate in a substantially vertical state at a substantially central portion above the separator at the predetermined position; It is arranged on both sides below the separator in this predetermined position, and has a folding guide that lifts both sides of the separator higher by the swing toward the end, and tightly contacts both sides of the central electrode plate. A battery electrode plate manufacturing apparatus. A carrier in which a groove for inserting the separator sandwiching the electrode plate is disposed below the separator in the predetermined position, and the electrode plate support device supports the electrode plate when the electrode plate is sandwiched by the separator. 3. The battery according to claim 2 , wherein the bending guide sandwiches the electrode plate by the separator and then grips and lowers the electrode plate and inserts it into the groove of the carrier. 4. Electroplate manufacturing equipment.

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