JPH05312680A - Relief valve inspecting apparatus for enclosed battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an apparatus for easily inspecting a failure of a relief valve of an enclosed battery in a short time. CONSTITUTION:A relief valve inspecting apparatus for enclosed battery comprises an attachment 4 airtightly mountable to an exhaust part 6 of a ''battery 5, a compressor 1 for feeding low pressure air to the exhaust part 6 and a pressure detector 7. Low pressure air is fed from the compressor 1 to the exhaust part 6 to detect magnitude of pressure increasing speed, thereby determining a failure of a relief valve.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for detecting an abnormality in a safety valve for a sealed battery.

[0002]

_2. Description of the Related Art In a sealed battery, oxygen gas generated at the positive electrode at the end of charging is reacted with the negative electrode active material by the reaction formula of Pb + 1/2 O ₂ → Pb O, and Pb O + H ₂ SO ₄ → Pb Oxygen gas is treated in a closed system by returning again to the original state by the reaction of SO ₄ + H ₂ O Pb SO ₄ + 2e ⁻ → Pb + SO ₄ ²⁻ .

However, hydrogen gas may be generated during high-current charging or self-discharge, and the battery is provided with a safety valve in order to release the generated hydrogen gas to the outside of the closed system (outside of the battery). . This safety valve also serves to prevent oxygen gas (air) from entering the closed system, and has a check valve structure. If this safety valve is not in a normal state, it does not function as a check valve, air enters the closed system, PbO in the negative electrode active material increases, and the charging voltage and capacity decrease. The original performance of the battery cannot be maintained.

Conventionally, in order to confirm the state of this safety valve,
It was necessary to remove the exhaust plug and visually inspect the safety valve.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a device capable of easily inspecting a safety valve abnormality in a sealed battery in a used state of the battery in a short time. It consists of an airtight attachment, a compressor for sending low-pressure air to the exhaust, and a pressure detector.The low-pressure air is sent from the compressor to the exhaust to increase or decrease the pressure rising speed up to the set pressure. By detecting the rise time and the rise time, it is possible to inspect the safety valve abnormality in use without removing the exhaust plug of the battery.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the inspection device of the present invention, in which 1 is a compressor, 2 is a pressure reducer, 3 is a flow rate regulator, 4 is an attachment that can be airtightly connected to an exhaust portion 6 of a battery 5, and 7 Is a pressure detector, and 8 is a controller for controlling the device.

First, the compressed air sent from the compressor 1 is decompressed by the decompressor 2 to an appropriate pressure, adjusted by the flow rate adjuster 3 to an appropriate flow rate, and the exhaust portion 6 of the battery is discharged.
The pressure in this part will rise at a constant speed. Further, the pressure of this portion is detected by the pressure detector 7, and if the safety valve has an abnormality such as an airtight leak, the air sent into the battery also infiltrates into the battery, and the rate of pressure increase slows down accordingly. An abnormality of the safety valve can be detected by checking the size. By using low-pressure air (for example, 0.001 to 0.1 Kg / cm ² ), the difference in speed of pressure increase becomes large, and the detection capability can be further improved.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a state in which the attachment 4 is airtightly attached to the exhaust portion 6. The attachment 4 is sent from the compressor while keeping the airtightness by the sealing packing 9 on the upper surface of the exhaust portion of the battery. The low-pressure air is sent to the exhaust chamber 12 through the explosion-proof filter. If the safety valve is normal, the volume of the exhaust chamber is small and the pressure rises to the set pressure in a short time. However, if the safety valve is abnormal, the low-pressure air enters the inside 13 of the battery. Since the internal space of the battery has a larger volume than the exhaust chamber, the time it takes to reach the set pressure is longer than that when the safety valve is normal.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views showing comparison of the difference in pressure rise time between the normal battery A and the abnormal battery B of the safety valve using the present apparatus, and FIG. 05 kg /
When adjusted to cm ² and set, Figure 4 shows a pressure of 0.01 Kg.
The figure shows the case of adjusting and setting to / cm ² .

[0010]

By using the inspection apparatus of the present invention, the safety valve can be inspected without removing the exhaust plug of the battery and without any influence of air mixing into the battery. Abnormalities due to deterioration over time can be easily checked, and its industrial value is great.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an inspection apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an airtight device between an attachment and an exhaust part.

FIG. 3 is a diagram comparing the pressure increase rates of a normal battery with a safety valve and an abnormal battery.

FIG. 4 is a diagram comparing pressure rise rates of a normal battery with a safety valve and an abnormal battery.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Compressor 2 Pressure reducer 3 Flow rate regulator 4 Attachment 5 Battery 6 Exhaust part 7 Pressure detector 8 Controller 9 Seal packing 10 Safety valve 11 Explosion-proof filter 12 Exhaust chamber 13 Battery inside

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An attachment which can be airtightly attached to an exhaust part of a battery, a compressor for sending low-pressure air to the exhaust part, and a pressure detector. The low-pressure air is sent from the compressor to the exhaust part to increase the pressure. A safety valve inspection device for a sealed battery, which is configured to determine an abnormality of a safety valve by detecting a magnitude of speed.