JPH04147749A - Equipment for continuously casting grid body for lead battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To continuously cast a grid body by combining plural number of long rectangular molds as movable in annular state with hinge mechanism and inclining so as to become lower to advancing direction of the molds. CONSTITUTION:The long rectangular molds 1 and 3 are carried with chains, and the molds at supplying part for molten metal. is kept to 150-160 deg.C with a heating device, and the molds A and B are brought into mutual contact under pressing. Then, the inclining angle theta is made to 8 deg.. Molten metal heated to 430-450 deg.C is poured into the integral mold and flowed into engraved grooves as the grid body in order, and the good grid body is obtd. This cross sectional shape is different at the point, which the one side face is not flat, compared with the one cast with the conventional mating mold, i.e., book mold. Therefore, by this invention, the grid body having the optional shape can be continuously and efficiently manufactured and the succession to the following process comes to continuous, and the drastical automatic equipment can be obtd.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a continuous casting apparatus for grid bodies for lead-acid batteries.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventional techniques and their problems Grids for lead-acid batteries are manufactured by casting or machining methods, both of which have advantages and disadvantages.

The casting method is a method in which molten metal is poured into a pair of mating molds in which the shape of a lattice is engraved, and lattice bodies as shown in FIG. 7 are manufactured one by one. This method has the disadvantage that it is inefficient because the lattice is manufactured in batches, and that it cannot be connected continuously with the paste filling process, which is a subsequent process. Therefore, in recent years, machining methods have been adopted instead of the conventional casting method for producing grid bodies. A typical example of this machining method is a method for manufacturing a lattice body using an expanded method. The lattice body manufactured by this method has a shape as shown in FIG. 8, and although the continuous manufacturing allows efficient connection with subsequent processes, it has the following drawbacks. First, to manufacture an expanded lattice, a lead alloy base metal must be formed into a sheet by rolling or other methods.

This sheet is then expanded using an expander, but this requires very large equipment and is
The lattice body that can be manufactured using this method is mainly limited to lead-calcium alloys, and it is difficult to apply it to lead-antimony alloys that are commonly used in lead-acid batteries. As you can see from its shape, the grid has no vertical master bars, so its voltage characteristics are poor.Especially when used as a positive electrode plate, the grid tends to stretch, causing a short circuit with the negative electrode strap, resulting in only lead-acid batteries having a short lifespan. This is something that cannot be obtained.

Therefore, a continuous casting apparatus capable of continuously manufacturing a lattice body by a casting method has been devised, and various proposals have been made so far. For example, according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,349°067, a molten metal supply section called a shoe is brought into contact with a drum in which the shape of a lattice is carved, and a mold groove formed between the drum and the shoe is filled with molten metal. An apparatus for producing cast grids continuously is described. However, in the lattice body manufactured by this method, since the mold is only the outer periphery of the drum, the shoe surface side has a flat cross-sectional shape as shown in Figure 6, and as is clear from this shape, the electrode plate filled with paste does not vibrate. The disadvantage is that the paste easily falls off.

Furthermore, since the shoe, which is the molten metal supply part, is fixed, the drum rotates while sliding against the shoe, and a large number of cavities are generated on the shoe surface side of the manufactured lattice body. In particular, when used as a positive electrode plate, the grid is severely corroded, making it impossible to obtain a lead-acid battery with good life performance. Furthermore, the continuous casting method described above has the disadvantage that only lead alloys with a relatively narrow solidification range, such as lead-calcium lead alloys, can be used, and castings with large lattice thicknesses cannot be manufactured.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a continuous casting device that eliminates all the drawbacks of the conventional method for producing grid bodies for lead-acid batteries as described above. A pair of molds in which a large number of strip-shaped molds are movably connected in an annular shape by a hinge structure are arranged so as to face each other and circulate, and at least a plurality of sets of opposing strip-shaped molds are always pressed against each other to form a pair of mating molds. configured to form a mold;
By slanting the annular molds so that the execution direction of the molds is lowered, it is possible to continuously cast a lattice body having the same cross-sectional shape as the lattice body that can be cast with the conventional batch-type mating mold described above. It is.

Example Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail based on one embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a top view of the main body of a continuous casting apparatus for grid bodies for lead-acid batteries according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a rectangular mold, one side of which is carved in the shape of a divided lattice body, and the back side of the mold is a chain for movably connecting it with other adjacent rectangular molds by a hinge mechanism. They are combined into one frame 2, and thereby a large number of strip-shaped molds are connected to each other to form an annular mold A. 3 and 4 are each one piece of a strip-shaped mold and chain having the same configuration, and form an annular mold B that is paired with an annular mold A. A pair of annular molds A and B are arranged to circulate between a pair of sprockets 5, 5' and 6, 6', respectively,
In the linear portion 7 of the mold between the pair of sprockets, the annular molds A and B are brought into pressure contact with each other to form a mating mirror mold. Therefore, strip-shaped molds 1 and 3
To further explain this by clarifying the shape of the cross section C-C in FIG. 1, in FIG.
and 3 have engravings 8 and 9 in the shape of dividing the lattice body on one plane, and diagonally cut portions 10 and 11 are provided at the upper end of the engraving surface side, and the rectangular molds 1 and 3 are When pressed together, a 7-shaped groove is formed. Furthermore, pin holes 12 are provided at the bottom of the carved surfaces of the rectangular molds 1 and 3, respectively.
and pins 13 are provided, and the molds 1 and 3 are fixed by fitting these together. In addition, pulleys 14, 14' and 15° 15' having 7-shaped recesses are placed in the upper and lower U-shaped recesses on the back of the mold.
The mold 1 moves smoothly on the V-shaped rail 16' of the fixed plate 16, and the mold 3 moves smoothly on the ■-shaped rail 19' of the movable plate 19 attached to the fixed plate 18 via the air cylinder 17. Note that 2.2' is one piece of the chain attached above and below the strip-shaped molds 1 and 3, and 20 is a device for heating the molds. This mold heating device 2
0 is not provided in the entire press-contact portion of the annular molds A and B in FIG. 1, but is set to an extent that can heat the vicinity of the molten metal supply portion.

These annular molds are inclined at an angle of .theta. so that the direction in which the molds are formed is lowered, as shown in the I)-D sectional view in FIG. If there is no inclination, the molten lead will flow in the opposite direction to the mold execution direction, especially during low speed operation, and the way the lead will enter the mold will be irregular, so there is a risk that a continuous lattice cannot be produced. The slope prevents the molten lead from flowing in the opposite direction, making it possible to stably create a continuous lattice as it enters the mold one after another.

Figure 3 shows a top view of the strip-shaped mold 1, and 2 shows the chain 1.
The top, 8 is a carving, 12 is a pin hole, and 14 is a pulley.

Next, an embodiment will be described in which a lattice body of a lead-antimony alloy is formed using the continuous casting apparatus according to the present invention having the above-described structure.

First, when the drive device (not shown in the drawing) connected to the sprocket 5 is activated, the chain meshes with the teeth of the sprocket and moves, and the strip-shaped mold connected to the chain also moves along with it. At this time, when the rectangular molds 1 and 3 come to the position where they are combined, the pin 13 provided on the carved surface is inserted into the bottle hole 12.
The molds are fixed to each other. Therefore, the mold heating device 20 (in this embodiment, a gas burner is used) is operated, and when the temperature of each mold reaches 100° C. or higher, a mold release agent is applied to the engraved surface of the mold. Next, the mold in the molten metal supply portion is maintained at 150 to 160° C., and the air cylinder 17 is operated to press the annular molds A and B into contact. At this time, the inclination angle θ of the annular mold was 8°.

When molten metal heated to 430 to 450°C is poured into the upper part of the combined molds, the molten metal sequentially flows into the carved grooves of the lattice body, and as the mold moves, the molten metal that fills the carved grooves solidifies, forming the shape shown in Figure 4. A continuous grid was obtained. Furthermore, even when the mold execution speed was low, a continuous and good lattice was obtained. As shown in Figure 5, the cross-sectional shape of the lattice body cast here is the same as that produced using a conventional laminated mold, so-called book mold, and the lattice body manufactured using a conventional continuous casting machine as shown in Figure 6. Since one side is not flat like a body, not only can a plate with good paste filling properties and excellent vibration resistance be obtained, but since there are no sliding parts, a lattice body with good corrosion resistance and no formation of blowholes can be obtained. Manufactured.

The optimum value for the inclination angle θ of the annular mold is the mold execution speed.

It changes depending on the grid shape, molten lead supply amount, etc. In this test, good results were obtained in the range of 1° to θ<45°.

Effects of the Invention According to the continuous casting apparatus for grid bodies for lead-acid batteries according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

B. Grids of any shape can be manufactured continuously and efficiently.
The connection with post-processing becomes continuous, and the electrode plate manufacturing process can be automated to a large extent.

By arranging the continuous casting apparatus shown in the embodiment in parallel, a number of strip-shaped lattice bodies can be manufactured simultaneously. For example, if two continuous casting grids of this embodiment are prepared, three strip-shaped grid bodies can be manufactured at the same time, further improving the production efficiency of the grid bodies.

C. There are no restrictions on the types of base metals that can be used; lead-calcium or lead-antimony base metals can be cast, and the thickness of the lattice can be freely changed.

21 Since the continuous casting device of the present invention has no sliding parts, the finish of the lattice body is good and there are no cavities unlike conventional continuous casting lattices, so it can be used satisfactorily as a positive electrode lattice.

E6 The electrode plate in which the paste is filled in the lattice body cast by the continuous casting apparatus according to the present invention does not cause the active material to fall off.
Good IT vibration properties.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a top view of the main body of a continuous casting apparatus for lead-acid battery lattice bodies according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the strip-shaped mold taken along the line C--C in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the strip-shaped mold. An enlarged top view, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the lattice body according to the present invention, FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the lattice body according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a conventional continuous @
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a lattice body manufactured by a casting machine, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a lattice body manufactured by a conventional batch-type casting machine, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a lattice body formed into a V shape by an expanded method. 1.3...Rectangular mold, 2,4...One piece of chain, 5.5', 6.6'...Sprocket, 8.9.
... Engraving of lattice shape, 10, 11... Diagonal cutting part, 12... Pin hole, 1
3...Bin, 14, 14', 15.15'...Pulley, 16.18...Fixed plate, 19...Movable plate, 17
... Air cylinder No. 1 Akane Ozu Yazu'

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of molds in which a large number of rectangular molds having engravings in the shape of a grid divided into one plane are movably connected in an annular shape by a hinge mechanism are arranged so as to face each other and circulate;
A continuous casting device is constructed such that at least a plurality of sets of opposing strip-shaped molds are always pressed against each other to form a pair of mating molds, and the annular molds are mated so that the direction of mold execution is low. A continuous casting device for a lead-acid battery lattice body, characterized in that the lattice body is inclined at a tilt angle.