KR101299630B1 - Apparatus for manufacturing a fuel cell stack and method for manufacturing a fuel cell stack - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a fuel cell stack assembling apparatus and a method of assembling, and more particularly, to automate stacking and fastening of fuel cell stacks to prevent defects caused by assembly mistakes and to ensure fastening at a uniform pressure. Disclosed are a fuel cell stack assembly apparatus and a fuel cell stack assembly method.
The present invention provides a component supply unit for loading and supplying the components constituting the fuel cell stack by type; A work table on which components constituting the fuel cell stack are stacked; A component transfer unit which loads the components loaded in the component supply unit in the stacking order and moves them to the work table; A work table driver for adjusting the height and posture of the work table; And a stack fastening part configured to fasten the stack of fuel cells stacked on the work table.

Description

Fuel cell stack assembly device and fuel cell stack assembly method {APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING A FUEL CELL STACK AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A FUEL CELL STACK}

The present invention relates to a fuel cell stack assembling apparatus and a method for assembling, and more particularly, by automating stacking and fastening of fuel cell stacks to prevent defects caused by assembly mistakes, and to ensure fastening at a uniform pressure. The present invention relates to a fuel cell stack assembly apparatus and a fuel cell stack assembly method.

In general, a fuel cell stack includes a membrane electrode assembly (MEA), a separator, and the like.

Since the fuel cell stack is manufactured by sequentially stacking a plurality of stacked parts, when the parts are misaligned or the stacking order of the parts is misaligned, the fuel cell stack has a fatal effect on product performance.

Prior art related to the present invention, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2009-0106217 (published October 08, 2009), the prior art discloses a technique for the automatic assembly of the fuel cell stack.

An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell stack assembling apparatus and a fuel cell stack manufacturing method capable of automating the stacking of a fuel cell stack to reduce the occurrence of defects due to misalignment of components or a change in the stacking order.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell stack assembling apparatus and a fuel cell stack manufacturing method capable of uniformly adjusting the clamping pressure of each part when the fuel cell stack is fastened.

The present invention provides a component supply unit for loading and supplying the components constituting the fuel cell stack by type; A work table on which components constituting the fuel cell stack are stacked; A component transfer unit which loads the components loaded in the component supply unit in the stacking order and moves them to the work table; A work table driver for adjusting the height and posture of the work table; And a stack fastening part configured to fasten the stack of fuel cells stacked on the work table.

The component transfer unit includes an image acquisition unit for acquiring an image of the component to be loaded to detect the type of the component, the posture at which the component is placed, and whether the component is defective.

The work table driver may change the posture of the work table in response to the posture of the loading part detected by the image acquisition unit.

In addition, the work table driving unit is height-adjusted so that the upper surface of the parts stacked on the work table to maintain a constant height.

To this end, the work table driving unit includes a turn table for rotating the work table, a lifting cylinder for lifting and lowering the turntable, and a sliding plate for horizontally moving the lifting cylinder.

At this time, the lifting cylinder is preferably disposed below the turntable.

The stack fastening part measures the height of the fuel cell stack and adjusts the fastening depth of the fastening member correspondingly.

To this end, the stack fastening part includes a distance sensor for measuring the height of the fuel cell stack, and a fastening runner for adjusting the fastening depth of the fastening member.

In addition, the present invention is a component loading step of loading the object to be laminated according to the stacking order, acquiring an image of the object to be laminated to identify the type and state of the object to be laminated, and recognizing the loading attitude of the object to be laminated; Stacking the loaded parts on a work table, and rotating the work table to compensate for the loading posture, and stacking the loaded parts; And a stack fastening step of fastening the stacked fuel cell stacks with a fastening member, and measuring a height of the fuel cell stack around each fastening member to fasten the height of each part to have a set height. Provide an assembly method.

At this time, the component stacking step adjusts the height of the work table so that the stacked components always maintain a constant height.

And, if the part loading step is determined that the loaded part is an inappropriate part, it is preferable to discharge the loaded part and to load the next part.

The apparatus for assembling a fuel cell stack and a method for manufacturing a fuel cell stack according to the present invention have an effect of automating stacking of a fuel cell stack to reduce the occurrence of defects due to misalignment of parts or a change in stacking order.

The fuel cell stack assembling apparatus and the fuel cell stack manufacturing method according to the present invention bring the effect of improving the quality of the fuel cell by uniformly distributing the fastening pressure of each part when the fuel cell stack is fastened.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a fuel cell stack manufactured by a fuel cell stack assembling apparatus according to the present invention;
2 is a schematic view showing the structure of a fuel cell stack assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;
3 is a schematic view showing the structure of a component transfer part of the present invention;
4 is a configuration diagram showing a work table and a work table driving unit of the fuel cell stack assembly according to the embodiment of the present invention;
5 is a view showing the configuration of a stack fastening portion according to an embodiment of the present invention;
6 is a view for explaining torsion angle correction of the suction jig and the work table,
7 is a flowchart illustrating a fuel cell stack assembly method according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, a fuel cell stack assembly and a fuel cell stack manufacturing method according to the present invention will be described in detail.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention, and how to achieve them, will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is capable of many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, To fully disclose the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

In addition, the size of the components constituting the invention in the drawings are exaggerated for clarity of the specification, and if any component is described as being present inside or connected to the other components, the components described above It may be installed in contact with other components, may be installed at a predetermined distance, and when installed at a distance to a third means for fixing or connecting the certain component to the other component The description may be omitted.

First, the structure of the fuel cell stack, which is a product to be manufactured, will be described.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a fuel cell stack manufactured by a fuel cell stack assembly apparatus according to the present invention.

As shown, the fuel cell stack 10 is formed by alternately stacking a plurality of separator plates 14 and MEAs 16 between a pair of compression plates 12. The compression plate 12 is coupled to the fastening means 15 for applying a fastening pressure to the fuel cell stack. The fastening means applies the fastening pressure to the fuel cell stack 10 by fastening through the pair of compression plates 12.

Compression plate 12 is formed with a plurality of fastening holes 13 for the fastening means 15 is coupled.

2 is a schematic view showing the structure of a fuel cell stack assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

An apparatus for assembling a fuel cell stack according to the present invention includes a component supply unit 100 for loading and supplying components constituting the fuel cell stack for each type, a work table 200 on which components constituting the fuel cell stack are stacked, and The component transfer unit 300 for loading the components loaded in the component supply unit 100 in the stacking order and moving them to the work table 200, and the work table driving unit 400 for adjusting the height and posture of the work table 200. And a stack fastening part 500 for fastening the stack of fuel cells stacked on the work table 200.

The component supply unit 100 includes a plurality of component trays 110, 120, and 130, and components of the same type are stacked on each component tray. Two or more component trays 110, 120, and 130 may be provided. Basically, the component trays 110, 120, and 130 are stacked in a state where the separating plate 14 and the MEA 16 are stacked.

Depending on the type of fuel cell stack, a compression plate, an insulation plate, or the like may be loaded in addition to the separator plate 14 and the MEA 16. In addition, the fuel cell stack is generally used in the separation plate having two different shapes, which are divided into a negative electrode plate and a positive electrode plate, so that two or more types of separation plates 14 can be stacked in a stacked state on each component tray. One of the component trays can also be used as a discharge tray for discharging defective items.

The work table 200 has a flat plate shape in which fuel cells can be stacked.

The work table 200 is adjusted in height and posture by the work table driving unit 400. Here, the posture means the rotation angle with respect to the vertical axis.

Raising and lowering the height of the work table 200 is to ensure that the fuel cell stack stacked on the work table 200 always has a constant height regardless of the number of stacked stages. In this case, the component transfer part 300 can always stack the parts at a constant height, so that the transfer part 300 can be simply configured, and the control of the component transfer part 300 becomes easy.

The component transfer unit 300 loads the components loaded in the component supply unit 100 one by one in the stacking order, transfers them onto the work table 200, and stacks them.

The component conveying unit 300 is fixed to each component by a vacuum suction method, and then moved to the work table, to release the vacuum to stack the components.

The component transfer unit 300 may include an image acquisition unit 350 for acquiring an image of a component to be loaded to detect the type of component, a posture at which the component is placed, and whether the component is defective.

The image acquisition unit 350 acquires an image of a part to be loaded, undergoes an image processing process, detects the size and shape of the part, and determines the type of the part, whether the part is the correct part suitable for the stacking order, and deforms the part. Determining whether the product is defective or defective, and detecting the appearance line of the part and the identification hole of the part to detect the posture of the part.

The stack fastening part 500 adjusts the fastening means after the prefastening of the stack 10 on the work table 200 to complete the assembly of the fuel cell stack. The work table driver 400 may adjust the height and posture of the work table 200, and may move the work table 200. In other words, the work table driving unit 400 moves the work table 200 (indicated by a solid line in the drawing) to a position proximate to the component supply unit 100 or moves the work table 200 (indicated by a dotted line in the drawing) to the stack fastening unit. It may be moved to be positioned below the 500.

3 is a schematic view showing the configuration of the component transfer part of the present invention.

The component transfer unit 300 selectively loads components from the component supply unit 100, and transfers and stacks the components to the work table 200.

To this end, the component transfer part 300 is a suction jig 310 for absorbing and fixing parts, a lifting lifter 320 for lifting and lowering the suction jig 310, and the horizontal lifting and lowering lifter 320. And a slider 330, and an image acquisition unit 350 for acquiring an image of a part to be loaded.

In addition, the suction jig 310 is preferably movable in the horizontal direction with respect to the lifting lifter (320). This is to match the center of the suction jig 310 with the center of the component to be loaded. Here, the center means the face center in a planar form.

It looks at the operation of the component transfer unit 300.

The component transfer unit 300 moves up the components corresponding to the stacking order, and acquires an image of the component to be loaded using the image acquisition unit 350. From the acquired image, whether the component is correct, whether the component is defective or not, Check the position and posture.

Next, the adsorption jig 310 is moved finely in the horizontal direction, so that the center of the adsorption jig 310 and the center of the part to be loaded are adsorbed and fixed, and then the parts are moved to the work table to stack the parts. At this time, the center of the suction jig 310 and the center of the work table 200 coincide with each other. Here the center means the core.

The suction jig 310 is not rotated and moves in a three-axis direction in a linear direction. Hereinafter, the rising and lowering direction is set to the Z axis, the direction of traversing the component transfer part 300 and the work table 200 to the X axis, and the remaining direction to the Y axis.

When the part is in a distorted state, a torsion angle in the Z-axis direction is generated between the suction jig 310 and the part, and the torsion angle is compensated in the work table. Detailed description of this part will be described later in the work table part.

4 is a configuration diagram illustrating a work table and a work table driving unit of the fuel cell stack assembly apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The work table driving unit 400 includes a turntable 410 for rotating the work table 200 in the Z-axis direction, a lifting cylinder 420 for raising and lowering the turntable 410, and the lifting cylinder in the X-axis direction. It includes a sliding plate 430 to move to.

The work table 200 has a stacking position at which parts are stacked, a prefastening position at which the stacked stacks are prefastened, a body fastening position at which the prefastened stack is fastened to a set fastening height, and a discharge position for discharging the completed stack. It will move back and forth between them. This movement is made by the sliding plate 430.

The sliding plate 430 moves along the rail 440 formed in the X-axis direction.

The lifting lowering cylinder 420 is formed at the lower part of the turntable 410, and serves to adjust the height of the turntable 410 so that the height of the parts to be stacked in the stacking position maintains a constant height. It will apply pressure to the display stack.

The turntable 410 operates to compensate the torsion angle by rotating the work table 200 in the Z-axis direction when the component loaded on the suction jig 310 has the torsion angle. Stacks stacked by this operation of turntable 410 may be aligned and stacked in a fixed position.

When the stacking of the fuel cell stack is completed at the stacking position, the sliding plate 430 moves the turntable 410 to the pre-tightening position. In the pre-tightening position, a pair of compression plates are fastened using the fastening member. A tie bolt may be used as the fastening member, and a bolt runner or a nut runner may be used as the fastening runner.

5 is a view showing the configuration of the stack fastening portion according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, the stack fastening part 500 includes a distance sensor 510 that can measure the height of the stack, and a fastening runner that adjusts the fastening depth by rotating the fastening member 15 clockwise or counterclockwise. 520. The height of the fuel cell stack at the fastening portion is determined by the fastening depth.

When the sliding plate 430 moves to the stacking position, the lifting cylinder 420 rises to press the stack upwards, and then the fastening runner 520 operates to fasten the fastening member so that the fuel cell stack has a set height. Adjust

At this time, the distance sensor 510 measures the height of the compression plate around each fastening member to determine whether the fastening height of each part is equal to the set height, and operating the fastening runner 520 from this measurement result. If the height is greater than the set height, further tighten the fastening member 15, and if less than the set height is repeated until the fastening height of each part is equal to the set height to release the fastening member 15.

When it is determined that the fuel cell stack is fastened to a desired height, the sliding plate 430 moves the work table 200 to the discharge position.

6 is a view for explaining torsion angle correction of the suction jig and the work table.

As shown in the figure, when the separating plate 14, which is a laminated part (even when the laminated part is MEA), is placed with a constant torsion angle θ with respect to the reference direction, the adsorption jig 310 is adsorbed as it is. It is fixed. That is, the torsion angle θ is not compensated for in the suction jig 310. However, when the separation plate 14 is fixed to the suction jig 310, the center 310c of the suction jig 310 and the center 14c of the separation plate 14 should be in a state in which they are coincident with each other.

To this end, the suction jig 310 is formed to be linearly movable in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction as described above.

Before the suction jig 310 stacks the separator plate 14 on the work table 200, the work table 200 is rotated at an angle corresponding to the torsion angle θ, and the suction jig 310 is moved to the work table ( When the separation plate 14 is stacked on the 200, the stacking parts are stacked while the center 310c of the suction jig 310 and the center 200c of the work table 200 coincide with each other. It is in a consistently aligned state.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a fuel cell stack assembly method according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, a fuel cell stack assembly method according to the present invention will be described.

In the fuel cell stack assembly method according to the present invention, the stacking component is loaded according to the stacking order, the image of the stacking component is acquired to identify the type and state of the stacking component, and the load posture of the stacking component is recognized. Loading step; and stacking the loaded parts on the work table, rotating the work table to compensate for the loading posture, and stacking the loaded parts; and stacking the stacked fuel cell stacks as fastening members. And fastening, measuring the height of the fuel cell stack around each fastening member, and fastening the stack to fasten the height of each part to have a set height.

At this time, in the component stacking step, the height of the work table is adjusted so that the parts stacked on the work table always maintain a constant height.

Look at each step in detail.

When the job starts, an image sensor is used to acquire an image of the part being loaded. Identify the parts from the acquired images to see if there are any errors in the parts. Here, the error of the part means whether the part to be stacked is correct, and whether the part is not defective.

If there is a fault in the part, load the faulty part, eject the faulty part in a separate place (eg the eject tray), and repeat the same process by reacquiring the image of the next part.

If it is determined that the part is free of errors, the attitude information of the part is obtained from the image of the part. As described above, the posture information of the part means an angle at which the part is twisted. The loaded parts are transferred to the work table and then stacked.

In the stacking step, the posture of the work table is adjusted based on the part attitude information acquired in the part loading step, and then the parts are stacked.

When the stacking of the desired number of stacks is completed, after pre-fastening the fuel cell stack by using the fastening member, the fastening pressure is applied and main body fastening is performed.

After the final tightening, it is determined whether the height of the stack is appropriate. At this time, the height of the stack measures all the heights of the parts where the respective fastening members are fastened, and confirms whether they all satisfy the appropriate height. If it is determined that it is not appropriate to repeat the same process by adjusting the fastening depth of the individual fastening member.

If it is determined that the height of the entire stack is appropriate, the stack is discharged and the operation ends.

While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. It will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive.

10 fuel cell stack 12 compression plate
14: separator 16: MEA
100: parts supply part 200: work table
300: component transfer part 310: suction jig
320: lifting and lowering lifter 330: slider
350: image acquisition unit 400: work table driving unit
410: turntable 420: lifting cylinder
430: sliding plate 500: stack fastening portion
510: distance sensor 520: fastening runner

Claims (11)

A component supply unit for loading and supplying components constituting the fuel cell stack for each type;
A work table on which components constituting the fuel cell stack are stacked;
A component transfer unit which loads the components loaded in the component supply unit in the stacking order and moves them to the work table;
A work table driver for adjusting the height and posture of the work table; And
And a stack fastening part configured to fasten the stack of fuel cells stacked on the work table.
The method of claim 1,
The part transfer unit
And an image acquiring unit for acquiring an image of the component to be loaded and detecting a kind of the component, a posture of the component, and whether the component is defective.
3. The method of claim 2,
The work table driving unit
And a posture of the work table in response to the posture of the loading component detected by the image acquisition unit.
The method of claim 1,
The work table driving unit
A fuel cell stack assembly device, characterized in that the height is adjusted so that the upper surface of the components stacked on the work table to maintain a constant height.
The method of claim 1,
The work table driving unit
A turntable rotating the worktable,
An elevating cylinder for elevating the turntable;
And a sliding plate for horizontally moving the elevating cylinder.
The method of claim 5, wherein
The lifting cylinder is
A fuel cell stack assembly device, characterized in that disposed below the turntable.
The method of claim 1,
The stack fastening portion
A fuel cell stack assembly device comprising measuring a height of a fuel cell stack and adjusting a fastening depth of a fastening member accordingly.
The method of claim 7, wherein
The stack fastening portion
And a distance sensor for measuring the height of the fuel cell stack, and a fastening runner for adjusting the fastening depth of the fastening member.
A part loading step of loading the stacking target parts according to the stacking order, acquiring an image of the stacking target part, identifying a type and a state of the stacking target part, and recognizing a loading attitude of the stacking target part;
Stacking the loaded parts on a work table, and rotating the work table to compensate for the loading posture, and stacking the loaded parts; And
A stack fastening step of fastening the stacked fuel cell stacks with a fastening member, and measuring a height of the fuel cell stack around each fastening member to fasten the height of each part to have a set height. How to Assemble a Fuel Cell Stack.
The method of claim 9,
The component stacking step
Assembling a fuel cell stack, characterized in that for adjusting the height of the work table so that the stacked parts always maintain a constant height.
The method of claim 9,
The component loading step
And if the loaded part is determined to be an inadequate part, discharging the loaded part and loading the next part.

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