JPH0714586A - Laminate forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a laminate forming device which can accurately generate location of a plate member, is free from risk of dislocation, and ensures a high speed production. CONSTITUTION:A plurality of magazines 8 accommodating plates are held on respective magazine tables 7 and arranged in mating with a carrier 6 on a transport device 5, and a row of plate locating parts 9 is provided between the row of magazine tables 7 and the transport device 5. The plates in magazine 8 and in the locating part 9 are grasped by the first and second heads of a transfer device 10, and the one lying at a locating jig 9 is transferred to the laminate accommodating space 6a of the carrier 6 while the one lying within the magazine 8 is transferred to the locating part 9. When tact feed is made and the mentioned cycle is repeated, a laminate consisting of a certain number of plates is formed. Because the plates are located in advance, laminating takes place with no risk of dislocation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for stacking a plurality of plate-like members to form a laminate, such as a pole group used in a prismatic battery.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A prismatic battery is a thin plate-shaped member having tab pieces serving as connection terminals attached to a plurality of (+) and (-) electrode plates which are alternately stacked to form a group of electrodes. It is formed by accommodating it in the case of a prismatic battery, injecting an electrolytic solution or the like, and covering it with a lid.

In FIG. 8, 1 is a (-) electrode plate and 2 is a (+) electrode plate. The bipolar plates have tab pieces 1a and 2a at symmetrical positions on an elongated plate-shaped body, and the (+) polar plate is
It is covered with an insulating bag-shaped separator 2b. As shown in FIG. 6 (e), the pole group, that is, the laminated body 3, is formed by alternately stacking a plurality of electrode plates 1 and 2 and stacking tab pieces to form tab terminals 3a and 3b.
Are formed, and these are bent, and the lead 3c is attached to the (+) tab terminal 3b. Figure 8
(f) shows the battery case 4 into which the laminate 3 is inserted.

[0004]

As described above, the electrode plate 1,
When stacking 2 to form the stack 3, the stack 3 and the battery case 4
Since there is not much difference in size between the electrode and the plate, if the positions of the electrode plates are misaligned, the electrode plate will be caught at the inlet of the battery case 4 and will not be able to enter properly. Further, it is necessary to manufacture the laminated body at a high speed so as to be suitable for manufacturing mass-produced products such as prismatic batteries.

Therefore, the first object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for forming a laminated body in which the electrode plate, that is, the plate-shaped member can be accurately positioned and which is free from positional deviation, and can be adapted to mass production. A second object is to provide an apparatus capable of producing a laminated body at high speed.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is formed to stack a plurality of plate-shaped members, a magazine for holding the plate-shaped members, a magazine base for holding the magazine. The stacked device accommodating space, the plate-shaped member positioning portion, and the transfer device, and the transfer device picks up the plate-shaped members one by one from the magazine on the magazine table and places them on the plate-shaped member positioning portion. A first head to be placed, and a second head to pick up the plate-shaped member placed on the plate-shaped member positioning portion and move it to the stack accommodating space
And a head, and the first and second heads are integrally connected.

Further, a carrier having the above-mentioned laminated body accommodating space is provided, a carrier device for holding the carrier and carrying it intermittently is arranged, and the above-mentioned laminated body forming device is arranged at each station of the carrier device. Configuration is desirable. Further, the magazine table has a plurality of magazine holding parts, and each magazine holding part is provided with a supply position where a plate member in the magazine is supplied to the transfer device and an exchange position where an empty magazine is replaced with a filled magazine. It is desirable to have a structure in which it is held so as to be movable between them.

[0008]

[Function] The magazine containing the plate-shaped member is placed on the magazine table, the magazine table is arranged corresponding to the laminated body accommodation space, and the plate-shaped member positioning portion is provided between the magazine table and the laminated body accommodation space. To provide. Then, with the first and second heads of the transfer device, the plate-shaped members in both the magazine and the positioning portion are gripped, and the ones in the plate-shaped member positioning portion are transferred to the stack accommodating space, and those in the magazine. Is transferred to the plate-shaped member positioning portion. By repeating this, a laminated body in which a predetermined number of plate-shaped members are stacked is formed. Since the plate-shaped members are pre-positioned by the positioning jig, they are transferred to the stack housing space without being displaced and stacked.

A space for accommodating the laminate is formed in a carrier, and the carrier is tact-fed by a carrier to insert plate-like members one by one from the magazine. Since you can insert one piece at a time, you can shorten the tact time and increase the production speed. Together, a plurality of types of plate-shaped members can be stacked in a predetermined order.

Further, a plurality of magazines are held on one magazine stand, a plate-like member is supplied from one of the magazines, and when the plate-like member in the magazine is exhausted, the next magazine is moved and used. If the empty magazine is moved and then replaced with a filled magazine, the apparatus can be operated without a stop time.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the laminated body forming apparatus of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 5 denotes a transporting device composed of a straight conveyor, and a large number of holding devices 5a are arranged at equal intervals and endlessly. The carrier 6 is held by each holding device 5 a, and the carrier 6 has a plate-shaped member accommodating space 6 a formed therein.

A magazine table 7 holds two magazines 8 and 8 symmetrically on a rotary table. The magazine 8 accommodates a large number of electrode plates 1 and 2 in a stacked manner, and only the (-) electrode plate 1 or the (+) electrode plate 2 is housed in the same magazine 8, and the same magazine is used. Magazines 8 of the same polarity are always supplied to the table 7.

The transport device 5 carries out intermittent index transport, but when the transport device is stopped, the position of the holding device 5a is a station, and a plurality of magazine stands 7 are arranged in a line corresponding to the station. Magazine stand 7
The same number as the number of stacked plate-shaped members forming the laminate is provided, and the (+) and (-) electrode plates are arranged alternately.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a plate-shaped member positioning portion, which is arranged between the carrier device 5 and the row of the magazine table 7 in a 1: 1 relationship with the magazine table. Here, the electrode plates 1 and 2 as plate members
Is placed, the positioning is performed with respect to the plate-shaped member accommodating space formed in the carrier.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a transfer device, which is a device for picking up the electrode plates in the magazine 8 one by one from the top and transferring them to the laminated body accommodating space 6a of the carrier 6. Reference numeral 11 is an XY table, on which a large number of spare magazines 8 are placed (see FIG. 1).
(Only two magazines 8 are shown in FIG. 3) are arranged so that the rows of (+) magazines 8 and the rows of (−) magazines 8 alternate.

Reference numeral 12 denotes an XY robot, which is controlled by a computer or the like, and when an empty magazine 8 is formed on the magazine stand 7, the position is detected and a new magazine is supplied from the XY table 11. 13 is a return conveyor,
The carrier 6 sent to and returned to the next step is returned to the start position of the transporting means 5 and fed again to the holding device 5a of the transporting means 5.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the carrier 6. 6a
Is a housing space for the plate-like member described above, 6a 'is a guide portion formed as an inclined surface on three sides of the housing space, 6b is a pair of pressing levers, 6c is a pair of drive levers, and 6d is a connecting lever and a driving lever. Shaft 6e is spring means for urging the pressing lever 6b toward the plate-shaped members 1 and 2,
6f is a roller, 6g is a hole as a carrier positioning member, 6h is a reference surface, and 6i is an engaging recess formed on both sides of the carrier.

As shown in FIG. 3, there are two pin-shaped guide members 14 and two plate-cam-shaped opening members 15 on the carrier device. Move up and down vertically.

As shown in FIG. 4, the carrier device 5 has a large number of carrier holders 5a at regular intervals, in which carriers 6 are held and tact feed is performed by a motor or the like. The engaging recess 6i is provided on the side of the carrier 6, and a ball plunger (not shown) provided on the carrier holder 5a.
To hold the carrier on the carrier.

That is, when the index conveyance is performed and the carrier 6 stops at the station, first, the guide member 14
Pin comes down and enters the hole of the carrier positioning member 6g. Since the tip of the guide member 14 is tapered, by entering the carrier positioning member 6g,
The carrier 6 is guided and fixed to the regular position.

Next, the opening member 15 is provided from both sides of the carrier 6.
Comes into contact with one of the rollers 6f, and both rollers 6f rotate the pressing lever 6b integrally coupled with the shape of the plate cam to the open position.

When the carrier 6 moves, the operation opposite to the above occurs before that, the guide member 14 and the opening member 15 are both separated from the carrier 6, and the pressing lever 6b is the plate in the plate member accommodation space 6a. The members 1 and 2 are pressed from above.
The guide members 14 and the opening members 15 are integrally connected so that the same number of magazine bases 7 as the magazine bases 7 are arranged in each station, and that they operate simultaneously.

FIG. 5 is a view showing the details of the magazine stand 7,
The magazine table has two magazine holders 7c symmetrically with the rotary shaft 7b on the rotary table 7a, and the plate-like member 1 or 2 is moved upward from the lower one of the two magazines 8 held by these magazine holders 7c. The sheets are taken one by one from the above and inserted into the accommodation space 6a of the plate-like member formed in the carrier 6 by the method described later.

When the plate-shaped members in the magazine 8 are used up, the rotary table 7a is rotated to replace the upper and lower magazines 8 in the figure, and the plate-shaped members are similarly supplied. The empty magazine 8 is removed after going to the top of the figure, and then X
The XY table 1 by the Y robot 12 (FIG. 1)
A new magazine 8 having the same polarity will be supplied from the magazine 8 placed on the first position. With the above configuration, it is not necessary to stop the device for supplying the magazine, and the operating efficiency of the device is improved.

The magazine table 7 is not limited to the rotary table 7a type, but may be of a type that linearly advances and retreats, and various forms such as three or more magazines may be used. It is possible to use.

FIG. 6 shows details of the transfer device 10. This apparatus has two suction heads, a first head 10a for transferring the plate-shaped member from the magazine 8 of the magazine table 7 to the positioning unit 9 and a second head 10b for transferring the plate-shaped member from the plate-shaped member positioning unit 9 to the stack housing space 6a. It has a head, and these are integrally attached to the frame 10c so as to operate simultaneously. The phantom line and the reference numeral with a dash in the figure indicate the state after the transfer.

FIG. 7 is a view showing the plate-shaped member positioning portion 9. The walls 9a and 9b around the positioning portion 9 are slidable as indicated by arrows, and when a rod 10d (see FIG. 6) provided near the first head 10a pushes a lever 9c or the like, for example, these surroundings are removed. The wall slides in the direction of enlarging the accommodation space of the positioning portion against the spring means.

Next, the operation of the device of the present invention will be described. First, the XY table 11 is filled with a sufficient number of magazines 8, and each magazine table 7 is filled with at least the transfer device 1.
The magazine 8 on the side of supplying 0 is accommodated. In addition, the plate-shaped member 1 is placed in advance on at least the plate-shaped member positioning portion 9 of the first station.

When the carrier device 5 carries out index carrier, the carrier 6 is successively supplied from the return conveyor 13 to each holding device 5a. When the first carrier 6 stops at the first station, the guide member 14 comes down and enters the carrier positioning member 6g to position the carrier 6. Then, the opening member 15 descends to open the stack housing space 6a.

Next, each of the first heads 10a of the transfer device 10 is moved to its corresponding magazine 8 by its suction pad.
Pick up one of the uppermost plate-shaped members 1. Second head 1
0b picks up the plate-shaped member 1 of the plate-shaped member positioning portion 9 of the first station.

Next, when the frame 10c is moved, the second head 10b comes to the position 10b 'shown by the phantom line in FIG. 6 and is vertically lowered together with the frame 10c, and the plate-shaped member 1 is laminated on the carrier 6. It is transferred into the accommodation space 6a. Since the plate-shaped member 1 was on the plate-shaped member positioning portion 9, the plate-shaped member 1 was transferred to a fixed position in the laminated body housing space 6a almost accurately. Further, since the guide portion 6a 'composed of the guide slope is formed at the entrance of the laminated body housing space 6a, even if the position of the plate-shaped member is slightly displaced, the guide portion can accurately perform the lamination. Enter the body housing space 6a. Further, the space 6a is surrounded on three sides, right and left, by a vertical surface continuing to the guide portion 6a ', and accommodates the plate-shaped member without rattling, so that the position of the laminated body can be accurately determined.

The first head 10a comes to the position 10a ', and a new plate member 1 is placed on the vacant positioning portion 9.
Or put 2. The positioning portion 9 is surrounded by spring-biased slidable walls 9a, 9b as shown in FIG. 7, and the rod 1 provided near the first head 10a.
0d (Fig. 6) comes to the position of 10d 'and pushes the lever 9c (Fig. 7) etc. prior to placing the plate member, and expands the surrounding walls 9a, 9b against the spring means. Member 1,2
Facilitates accommodation.

When the frame 10c rises, the rod 10
d is also disengaged from the lever 9a, and the peripheral walls 9a and 9b sandwich the plate-like members 1 and 2 from the front, rear, left and right for positioning. After that, the frame 10c returns to the original position. Prior to the next index conveyance, the release member 15 is driven by the drive lever 6.
After being released from c, the pressing lever 6b returns to the state of FIG. 2 and presses the plate member 1 from above.

By the subsequent index conveyance, the carrier 6 in the first station reaches the second station and stops, and the opening member 15 is released in the same manner as described above.
And the pressing lever 6b pivots to the open position, and this time receives the plate-shaped member 2 of the opposite polarity. A new carrier arrives at the first station and puts in the first plate-shaped member 1.

The above steps are carried out each time the carrier 6 is tact-fed by the carrier device 5 and stopped corresponding to each magazine stand 7, and each time the carrier advances one step,
(+) Or (-) plate-shaped members 1 and 2 are alternately stacked,
A predetermined number of laminated bodies 3 will be formed.

In this embodiment, the number of laminated sheets is 9, and the (-) electrode plates 1 are arranged on both upper and lower sides. As described above, when the plate-shaped members are stacked one by one by the index conveyance, the tact time can be shortened and high-speed production becomes possible.

When the nine plate-shaped members are stacked, the thickness of the laminate is measured. At this time, if the reference surface to be measured is set on the transport device 5, since it is a straight conveyor, the transport device 5 itself is largely bent, and it is difficult to measure accurately. To that end, FIG.
In the carrier 6 shown in, the above-mentioned reference surface 6h is formed. The reference surface 6h is formed at a constant height from the bottom surface of the stack housing space 6a. And
The tip of the sensor 16 including a linear actuator is brought into contact with the reference surface 6b, and the tip of the similar sensor 17 is brought into contact with the laminated body. And both of these sensors 16, 1
By measuring or calculating the distance between the tips of the laminated bodies 7, the thickness of the laminated body 3 can be accurately measured.

Next, with respect to the overlapping tab pieces 3a and 3b, (+) or (-) are pressed against each other from above and below to short-circuit, and the insulation between the (+) pole and the (-) pole is measured. . If the product fails the thickness inspection or the insulation inspection, it is discharged out of the line, and only the acceptable products are sent to the next step.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, the plate-like member positioning portion is placed in the middle without directly transferring the magazine from the magazine to the laminate accommodating space. Therefore, the plate-like members can be laminated without being displaced. It is possible to form a laminated body with high accuracy. In addition, the laminated body accommodation space is formed in the carrier,
When the index device is carried by the carrying device and the plate-like members are laminated one by one, the takt time can be shortened and high-speed production can be realized.

Furthermore, if the magazine table has a plurality of magazine accommodating portions and the magazine is rotatably held between the supply position to the transfer device and the replacement position of the empty magazine, the magazine becomes empty. Even in such a case, it is not necessary to stop the device, and the operation efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment of a laminated body forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the entire carrier.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where a carrier accommodating space is opened.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing details of a carrier device holding a carrier.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a configuration of a magazine table.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a configuration of a transfer device.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing details of a plate-shaped member positioning portion.

FIG. 8 (a) is a plan view of the (−) electrode plate, (b) is a front view of the same, (c) is a plan view of the (+) electrode plate, (d) is a front view of the same, (e) ) Is a perspective view of the pole group, and (f) is a perspective view of the battery case.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2 plate-shaped member 3 laminated body 5 carrier device 6 carrier 6a laminated body housing space 6b holding lever 6g carrier positioning member 7 magazine base 7c magazine holding portion 8 magazine 9 plate-shaped member positioning portion 10 transfer device 10a first head 10b No. 2 head 14 guide member 15 open member 16, 17 measurement sensor

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Seiji Kaneda 2-20-46 Horifune, Kita-ku, Tokyo Inside the Machinery Technology Development Center, Japan Tobacco Inc. (72) Inventor Mitsuhiro Kiguchi 2-Horifune, Kita-ku, Tokyo 20-46 Japan Tobacco Industry Co., Ltd. Machine Technology Development Center (72) Inventor Shoichi Sato No. 1 Toshiba-cho, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo Inside the Fuchu factory, Toshiba Corp. (72) Inventor Kazuo Ogikubo 3-chome Minami-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 4-10 Toshiba Battery Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshikazu Nakamura 6-6 Josaimachi, Takatsuki City, Osaka Prefecture Yuasa Corporation Co., Ltd. (72) Takeo Ishii 6-6 Josaimachi, Takatsuki City, Osaka Prefecture Inside Yuasa Corporation

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A magazine for accommodating plate-shaped members, a magazine base for holding the magazine, a stack body accommodating space formed for stacking a plurality of plate-shaped members, a plate-shaped member positioning portion, and a transfer. A first head for picking up one plate member from the magazine on the magazine table one by one and mounting it on the plate member positioning portion; and a transfer device for mounting the plate member on the plate member positioning portion. A second one that picks up the plate-shaped member that has been moved and moves to the stack accommodating space
And a head, and the first and second heads are integrally connected to each other. 2. The magazine table has a plurality of magazine holding portions, and each magazine holding portion is replaced by a feeding position at which a plate member in the magazine is fed to a transfer device and an empty magazine by a filled magazine. The apparatus for forming a laminate according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is held so as to be movable between the position and the position. 3. The stack forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the magazine table is configured to be rotatable, and two magazine holding portions are arranged symmetrically with respect to a rotation axis. 4. A carrier in which the laminate accommodating space is formed is provided, and a carrier device for holding the carrier and carrying it intermittently is arranged, and each station of the carrier device is provided with any one of claims 1 to 3. A laminated body forming apparatus comprising the laminated body forming apparatus described above. 5. The carrier has a carrier positioning member and a plate-shaped member pressing lever housed in a stack housing space, and a guide member and a pressing member that engage with the carrier positioning member of the carrier on the transport device. The laminated body forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising an opening member for opening the lever.