JPH06292943A - Continuous casting of lattice for lead accumulator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a continuous casting machine of a lattice for the lead the characteristics of the lattice are excellent, and the manufacturing efficiency is high. CONSTITUTION:A pair of molds A, B where a number of strip-shaped molds 1 in which the shape of the lattice is die-sunk in one plane are annularly connected by a hinge mechanism are arranged in a synchronous and circulating manner between a pair of sprockets 5, 5' and 6, 6'. A pair of mating molds are formed by constantly pressing the rear surface of a plurality of strip-shaped molds 1 which are opposite in the linear part between the sprockets, and the annular molds are inclined so that the advancing direction of the mating molds become low, and a recess is provided in a transverse communicating groove to communicate the adjacent strip-shaped molds.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a continuous casting apparatus for a lead storage battery grid.

[0002]

Lattice bodies for lead-acid batteries are generally manufactured by gravity casting or machining. The gravity casting method is a method in which the molten metal is poured into a pair of matching molds, which are called book molds and in which the shape of a lattice is engraved, and the lattices each having a shape as shown in FIG. 8A are manufactured one by one.
In this method, since the production of the lattice body is a batch type, the production efficiency of the lattice body is poor, and there is a drawback that the connection with the paste filling step which is a later step cannot be made continuous.

Therefore, in recent years, a machining method has been adopted as a method of manufacturing a lattice body replacing the conventional gravity casting method. A typical example of this machining method is a method of manufacturing a lattice by an expanding method. The grid manufactured by this method has a shape as shown in FIG. 8 (B), and the productivity of the electrode plate is remarkably improved because the connection with the subsequent steps can be continuously performed. There was a flaw.

First, in order to manufacture an expanded lattice, a lead alloy ingot must be formed into a sheet by a method such as rolling. Next, this lead alloy sheet is processed into an expanded lattice by a developing machine, which requires a very large-scale device for the production and development of the lead alloy sheet, and the grids that can be produced by this method are mainly lead. -Limited to calcium alloys, it is difficult to apply to lead-antimony alloys that are often used in lead-acid batteries. A further fatal drawback is that the lattice body is very stretchable, as can be easily inferred from the lattice shape of FIG. 8 (B).
In particular, when the expanded grid is used for the positive electrode plate, there is a drawback that the positive electrode plate comes into contact with the negative electrode strap to cause a short circuit due to the significant expansion of the grid due to charging and discharging of the battery, resulting in a short battery life. In addition, the grid has a large electric resistance and the voltage characteristics of the battery are poor.

Therefore, a method for producing a continuous lattice by a casting method has been proposed to solve these drawbacks. Although various inventions have been made so far, for example, according to US Pat. No. 4,349,067, a molten metal supply portion called a shoe is brought into contact with a rotary drum having a lattice shape engraved, and the drum is connected to the drum. An apparatus is described in which the grooves of a mold formed between the shoe and the shoe are filled with a molten metal to continuously cast a lattice. All of the conventional proposals are basically based on the above-mentioned method, but still have some drawbacks.

That is, the lattice body cast by this method has only the shape engraved on the outer periphery of the drum, and therefore has a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG. 7, and as expected from this shape, There is a drawback that the filled paste is more likely to fall off as compared with the lattice body formed by the gravity casting method using the conventional matching mold having the cross-sectional shape shown in FIG.

Further, since the shoe, which is the molten metal supply section, is fixed, the drum rotates while sliding on the shoe, and a large number of cast holes are formed on the shoe surface side of the manufactured lattice. In particular, when it is used for the positive electrode plate, the grid is remarkably corroded, so that a battery having a good life performance cannot be obtained.

Furthermore, since it is difficult to cool the molten metal supplied to the mold in the above continuous casting method, it is difficult to cool the Pb-Ca alloy and the Pb-low alloy.
There is also a drawback that only a grid body of a lead alloy having a relatively narrow solidification range such as an Sb alloy can be manufactured, and a grid body having a large thickness cannot be manufactured.

Various proposals have been made in order to solve these drawbacks and to continuously and efficiently produce a lattice having good characteristics. For example, according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-128150, a plurality of strip-shaped molds each having a lattice shape engraved on one plane are connected in an annular shape by a hinge mechanism to form a combined mold,
There is described an apparatus for continuously producing a lattice body having characteristics that can be cast by the above-mentioned conventional batch type casting mold by continuously supplying the molten metal into the strip-shaped mold. The electrode plate using the grid manufactured by this apparatus has better performance than that using the grid manufactured by the machining method or the continuous casting method using the drum.

To manufacture a paste type electrode plate for a lead storage battery, a lead storage battery paste prepared by kneading a fixed amount of dilute sulfuric acid having a known concentration to a certain amount of lead powder containing 60 to 80% lead oxide and the balance metallic lead is used. It is manufactured by filling an alloy lattice and aging it. A paste filling device that has been conventionally used for manufacturing an electrode plate for a lead-acid battery is, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 40-40928.
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. JP-A-2003-187, a grid body supplied by a belt conveyor is passed under a hopper equipped with a pair of rolls and an agitator to fill the paste. The paste filling amount is adjusted by adjusting the thickness of the filled electrode plate at the outlet of the hopper.

As shown in FIG. 9 (A), the electrode plate prepared by filling the above-mentioned filling device with the grid body produced by the conventional annular casting type continuous casting machine is sufficiently filled with the paste up to the belt side surface. There was often a problem that the grid body was exposed from the active material without wrapping around and the paste filling amount was reduced. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the electrode plate, where (A) shows a case where the filling state is not good, 27 is a paste, 28 is a small griddle, and 29 is a gridline.

The above-mentioned problem is caused by the fact that it is difficult for the paste to be filled up to the belt side surface because the lattice body is in close contact with the belt.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION As described above, the conventional lead-acid battery grid body manufacturing method has a poor manufacturing efficiency,
Even if the manufacturing efficiency was good, the characteristics of the lattice were poor.
The problem to be solved by the present invention is to solve such conventional defects, how to efficiently and efficiently produce a grid body having good characteristics, and to easily manufacture a good filled electrode plate. is there.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a pair of molds in which a large number of strip-shaped molds each having a lattice shape engraved on one plane are annularly connected by a hinge mechanism are circulated synchronously between a pair of sprockets. Are arranged so as to form a pair of mating molds by constantly pressing the back surfaces of a plurality of strip-shaped molds facing each other in a straight line portion between the sprockets, and an annular mold so that the advancing direction of the mating molds becomes low. By inclining and forming a mold with a recess in the lateral connecting groove that connects between adjacent strip-shaped molds, by continuously supplying the molten metal into this mold, it is possible to cast with the conventional batch type combination mold described above. It makes it possible to continuously produce a lattice with specific characteristics, and pushes the paste from above into the lattice that is conveyed on a belt conveyor, and then the belt and the belt. When a paste filling device having a structure for adjusting the amount of paste is filled by passing the grid between the thickness adjusting plate disposed in the part, a grid that can easily produce a good filled electrode plate It can supply the body.

[0015]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a main body of a continuous casting apparatus for a lead-acid battery grid according to the present invention and a sectional view taken along the line D-D thereof.
In the figure, 1 is a strip-shaped mold, and the shape of a lattice is engraved on one plane thereof. The back of the chain is a chain for connecting to adjacent strip molds by a hinge mechanism.
A top 2 is attached, and by this, a large number of strip-shaped molds are connected to form a circular mold A. 3 and 4 are strip-shaped molds and chains of the same structure, respectively.
It is a top and forms a circular mold B which is paired with the circular mold A. The pair of annular molds A and B are adapted to circulate synchronously between a pair of sprockets 5, 5'and between a pair of sprockets 6, 6 ', respectively.

In the straight line portion 7 between the pair of sprockets, the annular molds A and B are pressed against each other to form a combined mold, and the annular mold is formed in the advancing direction of the molds as shown in the DD sectional view. Is inclined at an angle of θ with respect to the horizontal plane so that

The strip-shaped mold will be further described with reference to FIG. 2 showing the CC cross section of FIG. 1. In the figure, 1 and 3 are strip-shaped molds, and 8 and 9 are engraved grooves in the shape of a lattice. Is. The tops of the strip-shaped molds 1 and 3 on the side of the engraving surface of the lattice body are obliquely cut portions 10 and 11
Is provided, and a V-shaped groove is formed in a state where the pair of strip-shaped molds are pressed against each other. Reference numerals 12 and 13 denote pin holes and pins for fixing the mating molds formed by the pair of strip-shaped molds 1 and 3 so as not to shift.

Pulleys 14, 14 'and 15, 15' mounted in U-shaped recesses are provided on the left and right sides of the back surfaces of the molds 1 and 3, respectively. 3 is an air cylinder for pressing it
The movable plate 19 mounted on the fixed plate 18 via the V-shaped rails 19 'can be smoothly moved.

Reference numerals 2, 2 ′ and 4, 4 ′ represent one frame of chains attached to the upper and lower sides of the strip-shaped molds 1 and 3, respectively, by which a large number of strip-shaped molds are connected. Two
Reference numeral 0 is an apparatus for heating the mold. The supply of the molten metal is provided at a place where it enters the straight part 7 of the mold in FIG. However, if the position is not appropriate, there is a risk that the molten metal will flow in and leak before the pair of strip-shaped molds are combined to form a mold, so that the position of the molten metal supply port 12 needs to be careful.

As described above, the reason why the annular mold is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane is to prevent the molten metal flowing back from leaking from the gap between the strip-shaped molds immediately before forming the combined mold. By tilting the annular mold in this way, the sprue can be set to the rear part to some extent, and the device itself can be made compact.

FIG. 3 (A) is a front view of a lattice shape engraved on one plane of the strip-shaped mold 1, and FIG. 3 (B) is FIG. 3 (A).
FIG. Reference numeral 22 is a portion corresponding to the horizontal upper parallel board of the lattice, 21 is an engraved portion of the upper mold corresponding to the lower horizontal board, 23 is a portion corresponding to the other horizontal horizontal boards, and 24 is a vertical direction. This is the part that corresponds to the wax. An indentation 26 having a certain depth is dug in a connecting groove portion 25 that connects adjacent molds.

Next, an example in which a continuous grid of lead-antimony is cast by using the continuous casting apparatus of the present invention will be described.
First, the air cylinder 17 is operated to press the annular molds in the linear portions 7 of the annular molds A and B to form a combined mold, and then a driving device (not shown) connected to the sprocket 5 is operated to operate the sprocket. The chain moves by meshing with the teeth, and the strip-shaped mold connected to the chain moves in the direction of the arrow in FIG.

Next, a heating device 2 provided on the back surface of the matching mold
When the mold temperature reaches about 150 ° C., a mold release agent is applied to the mold surface. At this time, the temperature of the mold decreases, so the temperature rises again and the mold is heated to 160 to 170 ° C.
When the temperature reaches, the molten metal whose temperature has been previously raised to 450 to 480 ° C. is poured into the V-shaped groove of the casting mold through the supply nozzle.

The molten metal fills the engraved grooves in the lattice shape of the individual matching molds. The flow of molten metal at this time will be described with reference to FIG. 3. The molten metal injected into the V-shaped groove is first shaped like a strip at the top of the mold. After the engraved portion 21 is filled, the molten metal is applied to the entire casting mold by sequentially passing through the portion 24 corresponding to the vertical cauldron and extending to the lateral groove 23.

A connecting groove 25 is formed between the adjacent mating molds.
Connected only by. 0.2 mm deep in the connecting groove 25
An indentation 26 is provided. Therefore, the cross-sectional view of the continuous lattice manufactured by the continuous casting apparatus of the present invention is as shown in FIG. A schematic view of the cast continuous grid is as shown in FIG. 4. This continuous grid is processed into a shape as shown in FIG. 5, filled with a lead storage battery paste, and then cut into individual plates. And During this processing, the projections of the continuous grid are cut from the electrode plate.

As described above, in the present invention, the annular mold is tilted so that the traveling direction is lowered. This is to prevent the molten metal injected into the mold from flowing backward and leaking from the gap between the molds. As a result of experiments, it was found that the inclination angle θ is preferably about 5 ° or more.

The cross-sectional shape of the lattice body cast by the continuous casting apparatus of the present invention is the same as that of gravity casting using the conventional book mold shown in FIG. 6, and the lattice has no corrosion and has good corrosion resistance. The body was obtained continuously. Further, as shown in FIG. 9 (B), the paste wraps around to the back side of the grid surface on the belt surface side, and the grid body is not exposed, showing a good filling state.

[0028]

According to the continuous casting apparatus for a lead-acid battery lattice of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (A) Since the lattice body can be continuously and efficiently manufactured and can be continuously connected to the subsequent steps, the electrode plate manufacturing process can be largely automated. (B) There is no limitation on the type of alloy that can be used, it is possible to cast either lead-calcium type or lead-antimony type, and the lattices can be manufactured in various thicknesses from thin to thick. (C) In the present invention, the production of the lattice body is continuous, but since the same shape as the lattice body by the conventional gravity casting method can be obtained, no porosity is formed, the corrosion resistance is good, and the positive electrode lattice is also used. It exhibits excellent properties. (D) The cross-sectional shape of the lattice body manufactured by the continuous casting apparatus according to the present invention is the same as that of the conventional gravity casting method,
In addition, the electrode plate filled with the paste has a good filling property in which the paste has sufficiently spread on both sides, the active material is unlikely to fall off, and the vibration resistance is also good.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view of a main body of a continuous casting apparatus for a lead-acid battery grid according to the present invention and a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD thereof.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG.

3A is a front view of a strip-shaped mold, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line EE of FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a continuous lattice manufactured by the continuous casting apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a grid obtained by processing a continuous grid manufactured by the continuous casting apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a grid of a lattice body manufactured by a conventional gravity casting method.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a continuous grid rod manufactured by a conventional continuous casting apparatus for a lead-acid battery grid.

FIG. 8 (A) Schematic view of a conventional gravity casting grid body. (B) Schematic view of a conventional expand method grid body.

9A is a sectional view of an electrode plate using a conventional continuous grid, and FIG. 9B is a sectional view of an electrode plate using a continuous grid manufactured by the continuous casting apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a continuous lattice produced by the continuous casting apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,3 Strip mold 2,2 ', 4,4' Chain 1 piece 5,5 ', 6,6' Sprocket 14,14 ', 15,15' Pulley 16,16 ', 19,19' V shape Rail 21 Engraved part on the upper part of the mold 22 Upper part of the horizontal horizontal part 23 Small part of the horizontal part 24 Vertical part of the vertical part 25 Connecting groove with adjacent molds 26 Dimples 27 Paste 28 Lattice small part 29 Lattice related parts

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of molds A and B in which a large number of strip-shaped molds each having a lattice shape engraved on one plane are annularly connected by a hinge mechanism, and a pair of sprockets 5, 5 '.
And 6 and 6 ′ are arranged so as to circulate in synchronization with each other, and the back surfaces of a plurality of strip-shaped molds facing each other in the straight line portion between the sprockets are constantly pressed to form a pair of matching molds. In the structure in which the annular mold is inclined so that the traveling direction becomes low, the continuous lead-acid battery grid body is characterized in that recesses are provided in the lateral connecting grooves that connect between adjacent strip-shaped molds. Casting equipment.