KR20190092018A - Transport method and apparatus for unit cell - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a conveying method of a unit cell for feeding a plate-shaped unit cell between a pair of rollers, which comprises the following steps: placing a unit cell on a conveyor belt having an intake hole formed on a surface thereof, while placing the unit cell on the conveyor belt so that the unit cell is placed on the intake hole; applying a negative pressure through the intake hole to move the unit cell by the conveyor belt in a state where the unit cell is adsorbed to the surface of the conveyor belt; canceling the adsorption state of the unit cell by blocking the negative pressure through the intake hole when the unit cell passes a predetermined point; and allowing a gripper to move after the gripper grips the unit cell to insert the unit cell between the rollers. Depending on the size of the unit cell and a grip position of the gripper, the time point or the point of the negative pressure blocking is adjusted differently.

Description

Transport method and apparatus for unit cell

According to the present invention, a unit cell having a structure in which electrodes and separators are stacked (for example, a cathode and a separator; or an anode and a separator; or a cathode and a separator and an anode; are stacked once or in several layers) and manufactured in a plate shape The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for transferring a feeder, and more particularly, a plurality of unit cells are stacked so that unit cells are continuously fed between rollers serving as input holes of a production facility (sitting device) manufactured by an electrode assembly. A method and apparatus are disclosed.

In the field of portable devices and electric vehicles, the demand for high efficiency secondary batteries is rapidly increasing. Among such secondary batteries, lithium secondary batteries having high energy density, relatively high voltage, and low self discharge rate are commercially used and widely used, and research and development for improving performance are being actively performed.

The secondary battery has a structure in which an electrode assembly and an electrolyte are embedded in a case such as a can or a pouch. The electrode assembly has a structure in which a positive electrode, a separator, and a negative electrode are repeatedly stacked, but in general, the electrode, the separator, and the negative electrode are rolled up in a stacked state to be embedded in a case. In the stacking may be divided into stacked.

The wound electrode assembly is suitable for mounting in a cylindrical cell wound in a spiral structure, while it is disadvantageous in space utilization in a square or pouch type battery. On the contrary, the stacked electrode assembly can be adjusted in size when cutting an electrode and a separator. It is easy to obtain the right angular shape, but the manufacturing process is relatively complicated and relatively weak to external impact.

And, to combine the advantages of the winding type and the stacking type (having the laminated structure of the anode / separator / cathode, the electrode stacked on the top and the bottom of the same) and / or (layered structure of the anode / separator / cathode) After stacking the half-cells (such as different electrodes stacked at the top and the bottom) into unit cells of appropriate sizes, the unit cells are arranged at intervals on the folding separator, and then the folding separator is folded to produce an electrode assembly. Stacking and folding processes have been developed.

The electrode assembly manufactured by the stack and folding process has an advantage of high stability and space utilization. However, when the unit cell is placed on the folding separator, even when the alignment is minutely disturbed or the unit cell is damaged, the electrode assembly may be separated. The likelihood of defects increases.

Therefore, there is a need for a method and apparatus for transferring a manufactured unit cell to a seating device (which seats the unit cell on the folding separator) more efficiently and stably before mounting the unit cell on the folding separator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has a main object to provide a method of conveying a unit cell and a conveying apparatus capable of supplying a plurality of unit cells continuously to an inlet of a seating device, that is, between two rollers in accordance with the above-described demands.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method of transporting a unit cell for introducing a plate-shaped unit cell between a pair of rollers, wherein the unit cell is placed on a conveyor belt on which an intake hole is perforated. Mounting the unit cell on a conveyor belt so that the unit cell is placed on an intake hole; A negative pressure is applied through the intake hole to move the unit cell by the conveyor belt while the unit cell is adsorbed on the surface of the conveyor belt; When the unit cell passes a predetermined point, the negative pressure through the intake hole is blocked to release the adsorption state of the unit cell; And a step in which a gripper grips the unit cell and moves therein to insert the unit cell between the rollers. The point or point of the sound pressure cutoff is differently adjusted according to the size of the unit cell and the grip position of the gripper. It is done.

In addition, when the unit cell leaves the conveyor belt by the gripper, the step of releasing sound pressure is further included.

In the present invention, the point at which the sound pressure is cut off is preferably a point at which the distance between the point where the unit cell is gripped by the gripper and the point at which the sound pressure is cut off is formed within a range of 1 to 10 times the length of the unit cell. .

In addition, the gripper inserting the unit cell between the rollers, the gripper grips the unit cell at a predetermined pick position; Moving the gripper in a state where the gripper grips the unit cell to a predetermined alignment position and performing posture correction at the alignment position of the unit cell; Moving, by the gripper, the unit cell to a foot position where the end (front) of the unit cell starts to enter between the rollers while the posture correction of the unit cell is performed; And ungrip after the gripper moves to the gripped state of the unit cell according to the feeding speed of the unit cell while the unit cell is inserted between the rollers. It is adjusted differently according to the size of the unit cell.

At this time, it is preferable that the time when the gripper ungrips the unit cell while the unit cell passes 50 to 80% of the entire length of the roller is determined.

In addition, the present invention further provides a unit cell feeder for feeding the unit cell between a pair of rollers. In the conveying apparatus of the present invention, a conveyor belt having an intake hole formed on a surface thereof may rotate continuously along a circumference of a housing to move a unit cell placed on the conveyor belt, but the unit cell may be adsorbed onto the surface of the conveyor belt. A conveyor unit capable of applying a negative pressure to the intake hole to be provided; A pair of rollers disposed at a predetermined distance from the conveyor; And a gripper that grips the unit cell that reaches a specific point (pick position) of the conveyor belt and moves the gripped unit cell between the rollers (at the foot position). .

The conveyor unit, the housing; A vacuum generator mounted in the housing to generate a negative pressure; A conveyor belt having a plurality of intake holes perforated to rotate along an outer circumference of the housing and serve as the unit cell in which a negative pressure formed in the vacuum generator is seated; And a solenoid for adjusting negative pressure generation in the vacuum generator.

A plurality of vacuum generators are arranged in a row in the housing along the longitudinal direction of the housing, and each vacuum generator is configured to mate with each of the individual solenoids so that negative pressure generation is independently controlled in each of the individual vacuum generators.

The vacuum generator, the chamber chamber has a constant volume and is opened while the intake hole is passed; And a compressed air pass pipe opened through the chamber chamber and having compressed air supplied from a surge tank, the inner diameter of which is gradually reduced, and a narrow part having a shape that gradually increases, wherein the compressed air passes through the narrow part. During the Venturi effect, negative pressure is generated in the chamber chamber.

According to the present invention having the above-described configuration, while the unit cell is moved through the conveyor belt, the adsorption is made and the position and posture are moved in a fixed state, but when the grip is gripped by the gripper (when the conveyor belt is released). The state is released, thereby minimizing the positional deviation of the unit cells when the gripper is gripped (deviation of the point where the respective unit cells are gripped when the unit cell is gripped by the gripper), and slips generated when the gripper is gripped.

Accordingly, even if the posture correction of the unit cell is made through the vision device before the unit cell is inserted between the rollers, the positional deviation of the gripped unit cells occurs before the position is corrected, thereby reducing the posture correction time. The overall feed rate can be shortened.

In addition, in the present invention, since the interruption time of the negative pressure to generate the adsorption force can be adjusted differently, the process conversion speed can be made faster when transferring the unit cells of different sizes.

1 is a side view schematically showing a transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the intake hole perforated on the conveyor belt surface.
3 is a perspective view of the gripper when in the pick position (A), in the alignment position (B), and when in the foot position (C);
4 is a plan view of the gripper when in the pick position (A), in the alignment position (B), and when in the foot position (C).
5 is a view schematically showing a state in which a conveyor unit is connected to peripheral devices according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a perspective view of a conveyor belt according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a cross-sectional view of a vacuum generator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a view showing the attitude of the unit cell detected by the vision device.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily practice the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

In order to clearly describe the present invention, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted, and like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the specification.

Also, the terms or words used in the specification and claims should not be construed as being limited to the common or dictionary meanings, and the inventors should properly define the concept of terms in order to explain their invention in the best way. It should be interpreted as meaning and concept corresponding to the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that it can.

The present invention relates to a method of conveying a unit cell and a conveying apparatus capable of continuously supplying a plurality of unit cells between two rollers (which are the openings of the seating device). Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be described in more detail.

Example 1

1 is a side view of a transfer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the conveying apparatus according to the present invention, the conveyor unit 20 in which the manufactured unit cell 10 is placed on one side (the opposite side of the pick position to be described later) is disposed at a distance from the pair of rollers 50, and the conveyor The gripper 30 is configured to move in the state in which the unit cell 10 is gripped by the unit 20 and to be introduced between the rollers 50.

The conveyor unit 20 is rotated along the outer periphery of the housing 20a having a space provided therein and the vacuum generator 24 mounted in the housing 20a and generating a negative pressure, and the housing 20a. The solenoid 23 which controls the negative pressure generation in the conveyor belt 20 and the vacuum generator 24 in which the plurality of intake holes 21a are perforated to act as the unit cell 10 in which the negative pressure formed in the 24 is seated. And a surge tank 22 for providing compressed air.

The conveyor belt 21 may continuously rotate along the circumference of the housing 20a to move the unit cells 10 placed thereon, but through the intake hole 21a as shown in FIG. 2. The negative pressure generated in (24) is configured to act on the unit cell 10 by the adsorption force.

The pair of rollers 50 arranged at a certain distance from the conveyor unit 20 is an inlet of a seating device (not shown) for seating the unit cell 10 on the folding separator (as described above), When the end of the unit cell 10 is reached by rotating at a constant speed, the unit cell 10 functions to enter the seating device.

When the unit cell 10 reaches the pick position A of the conveyor belt 20, the gripper 30 grips the unit cell 10 and moves in the gripped state. The unit cell 10 operates to start entry between the rollers 50. At this time, the slide of the gripper 30 is stopped once in the alignment position B as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 before the foot position C is reached. In the alignment position B, the posture correction of the unit cell 10 is performed through the vision device 40.

That is, as shown in FIG. 8, in the vision device 40, the posture of the unit cell 10 may be recognized or measured by optically comparing a reference line (a portion indicated by X) and an edge of the unit cell 10. This information is transmitted to a control device (not shown) for adjusting the movement of the gripper 30. The gripper 30 is adjusted so that the input position of the unit cell 10 is corrected based on the transmitted data. Since the grippers 30 are disposed on both sides of the unit cell 10 (see FIGS. 3 and 4), the heights of the unit cells 10 (between the rollers) by finely adjusting the positions of both grippers 30 are provided. The attitude may be corrected (including entry angle, etc.).

5 is a view schematically showing a state in which the conveyor unit 20 is connected to peripheral devices according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to the conveyor unit 20 of the present invention in more detail with reference to Figure 5, as described above, the conveyor unit 20 is configured to rotate the conveyor belt 21 continuously along the circumference of the housing (20a) do. The conveyor belt 21 is perforated at a predetermined interval, the adsorption holes (21a) are perforated as shown in Figure 6 gear teeth (21b) is formed on the inner peripheral surface is geared with the gear teeth (21b) to transfer power It is rotated through a driving device (not shown). In this case, the adsorption holes 21a may be formed at a predetermined position at intervals, but a plurality of the adsorption holes 21a may be arranged in a group. The number of adsorption holes 21a forming each group may be adjusted according to the size of the unit cell 10 and / or the size of the town pressure.

In addition, a plurality of vacuum generators 24 are arranged side by side in a row along the longitudinal direction of the housing 20a directly under the conveyor belt 21 upwards in the housing 20a.

Each vacuum generator 24 is individually connected to a solenoid valve (hereinafter, solenoid), it is configured to receive compressed air from the surge tank (22). The solenoid 23 opens and closes according to an electrical signal and supplies compressed air to the vacuum generators 24 when opened.

7 is a cross-sectional view of the vacuum generator 24 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to the drawings, the vacuum generator 24 is configured by the chamber chamber 25 and the compressed air path pipe 26 is coupled, the chamber chamber 25 has a constant volume to open the intake hole 21a. A part of which is opened or a hole is drilled (i.e., as indicated by the arrow at the lower part of FIG. 7, the perforated part can be sucked into the chamber chamber, and the perforated part is opened to the intake hole of the conveyor belt. Structure).

In addition, the compressed air path pipe 26 is opened with the chamber chamber 25 and the compressed air supplied from the surge tank 22 passes, but the inner part 26a has a shape in which the inner diameter gradually decreases and gradually increases. ) Is formed.

That is, while the solenoid 23 is opened so that the compressed air supplied from the surge tank 22 passes through the compressed air pass pipe 26, the compressed air passes through the cutoff portion 26a. When passing through the cut-off portion 26a, the compressed air has a Venturi effect, which speeds up, but the pressure is lowered by the energy conservation law. As the pressure is lowered, ambient air is also intaken in a direction passing through the cut-off portion 26a. Since the compressed air pass pipe 26 and the chamber chamber 25 are opened, the air inside the chamber chamber 25 is also opened. Negative pressure is generated in the chamber chamber 25 because it is discharged to the outside through the compressed air pass pipe 26 in the direction passing through the narrow portion 26a.

The negative pressure formed in the chamber chamber 25 acts as a force to suck the unit cell 10 placed on the conveyor belt 21 through the intake hole 21a. For reference, the vacuum generator 24 is preferably disposed as close to or in contact with each other as possible so as to minimize or eliminate the portion where the adsorption force is disconnected, and between the adjacent vacuum generator 24 and the chamber chamber 25. The perforated portion to open the intake hole 21a is also preferably formed to be continuous.

The conveyor unit 20 having the above configuration may generate or block the adsorption force by controlling the opening and closing of the solenoid 23 (combined with the vacuum generator placed at the corresponding position) according to the movement position of the unit cell 10.

Therefore, the conveying apparatus of the present invention is adjusted when the gripper 30 is gripped by differently adjusting the timing of sound pressure interruption according to the size and characteristics of the unit cell 10 placed on the conveyor belt 21 and the grip position of the gripper 30. It is possible to minimize the time to stay in the alignment position (B) by suppressing the occurrence of slip and by minimizing the deviation of the position and / or posture between the unit cells 10 to be transported.

Example 2

In the present invention, a method of transferring the unit cells is further provided as Example 2. The conveying method according to the present invention is for injecting a plate-shaped unit cell 10 between a pair of rollers 50, and conveys the unit cell 10 to the pick position A through the conveyor unit 20. After that, the gripper 30 grips the unit cell 10 at the pick position A, and then the position correction is performed at the alignment position B, and is transferred from the alignment position B to the foot position C. By inserting the unit cell 10 between the rollers (50).

Referring to Figure 1 in more detail, the method of the present invention starts from the step of placing the unit cell 10 on the conveyor belt 21. In this step, the unit cell 10 is seated so as to be placed on the intake hole 21a formed in the conveyor belt 21. In the intake hole 21a, the negative pressure acts as described above, so that the unit cell 10 Is adsorbed on the surface of the conveyor belt 21.

In addition, the unit cell 10 is moved in accordance with the rotation of the conveyor belt 21 in the adsorbed state. When the unit cell 10 arrives or passes a predetermined point, the solenoid 23 is closed in the conveyor unit 20 to block the negative pressure, thereby releasing the adsorption state of the unit cell 10. Then, when the unit cell 10 arrives at the pick position A, which is the target point, the gripper 30 grips the unit cell 10 and moves to move the unit cell 10 between the rollers 50. Done.

At this time, depending on the size of the unit cell 10, the grip position of the gripper 30, the time point of the sound pressure cutoff or the point where the sound pressure cutoff starts may be adjusted differently. That is, by adjusting the specific solenoids 23 in the structure shown in FIG. 5, the adsorption force applied to the unit cell 10 can be blocked from a relatively far distance or from a relatively close position before reaching the pick position A. FIG. have. At this time, the more the number of the vacuum generators 24 will be able to adjust the sound pressure cut-off time in a more precise unit.

Then, when the unit cell 10 leaves the conveyor belt 21 by the gripper 30 (that is, when the point at which the sound pressure was cut off leaves the pick position), the sound pressure may be acted again.

In this embodiment, the point at which the sound pressure is cut off is the distance between the pick position A at which the unit cell 10 is gripped by the gripper 30 and the point at which the sound pressure is cut off is 1 of the length of the unit cell 10. It is preferable that it is a point formed in the range of 10 times.

In addition, the gripper 30 injecting the unit cell 10 between the rollers 50 may include the gripper 30 grips the unit cell 10 at a predetermined pick position A, and aligns the predetermined alignment. And the posture correction of the unit cell 10 is performed after the gripper 30 moves to the position B in the gripped state. At this time, when the vision device 40 as shown in FIG. 1 optically recognizes the shape of the unit cell 10 from above, the gripper 30 moves the unit cell 10 up, down, left, and right to align it. (Ie, after correcting the posture and the position of the unit cell to meet the reference line as shown in FIG. 8), the unit cell 10 is moved to the foot position C in the posture correction of the unit cell 10.

The foot position C is a position where the end of the unit cell 10 enters between the rollers 50. Before the unit cell 10 reaches or at the same time as the foot position C, while the unit cell 10 is introduced between the rollers 50, the unit cell 10 is adapted to the input speed of the unit cell 10 (ie, The movement speed of the gripper 30 is adjusted to achieve the same speed as the rotational speed of the rollers.

In addition, the gripper 30 grips and supports the unit cell 10 so that the rear portion of the gripper 30 is not bent while the front part of the unit cell 10 is introduced between the rollers 50. After moving a certain distance, an ungrip (an operation to release the grip state of the unit cell) is performed. In this case, the time when the gripper 30 ungrips the unit cell 10 is adjusted differently according to the size of the unit cell 10. This ungrip time point or point adjustment may be implemented automatically by a program setting controlling the transfer device or by a manual operation of an operator through an input device such as a touch screen.

For reference, in this embodiment, it is preferable that the time when the gripper 30 ungrips the unit cell 10 is determined while 50 to 80% of the unit cell 10 passes through the roller 50. Do.

In the transfer apparatus and the transfer method according to the present invention having the configuration as described above, while the unit cell 10 is moved through the conveyor belt 21, the adsorption is made and moved in a fixed position and posture, but the gripper 30 is moved. When the gripper is gripped by the conveyor belt, the suction state is released and the positional deviation of the unit cells 10 when the gripper 30 is gripped (when the unit cell is gripped by the gripper Deviation of the point where the grip is changed), slip occurring during the grip, and the like can be minimized.

Accordingly, even if the posture correction of the unit cell 10 is performed through the vision device 40 before the unit cell 10 is inserted between the rollers 50, the unit cells 10 gripped before the position is corrected. Since the positional deviation is small, the posture correction time can be shortened and thus the overall feed speed can be shortened.

In addition, in the present invention, since the interruption time of the negative pressure to generate the adsorption force can be adjusted differently, the process conversion speed can be made faster when transferring the unit cells 10 of different sizes.

Although the present invention has been described above by means of limited embodiments and drawings, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the technical concept of the present invention and the following will be described by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Various implementations are possible within the scope of equivalents of the appended claims.

10: unit cell
20: conveyor section
21: Conveyor Belt
22: surge tank
23: solenoid
24: vacuum generator
30: gripper
40: vision device

Claims (9)

As a method of conveying a unit cell for feeding a plate-shaped unit cell between a pair of rollers,
Placing a unit cell on a conveyor belt having an intake hole formed on a surface thereof, and placing the unit cell on a conveyor belt so that the unit cell is placed on the intake hole;
A negative pressure is applied through the intake hole to move the unit cell by the conveyor belt while the unit cell is adsorbed on the surface of the conveyor belt;
When the unit cell passes the predetermined point, the negative pressure through the intake hole is blocked to release the adsorption state of the unit cell; And
And a gripper moves after the gripper grips the unit cell to insert the unit cell between the rollers.
A method of transferring a unit cell, characterized in that the timing of the sound pressure cutoff or the point at which the sound pressure cutoff starts is differently adjusted according to the size of the unit cell or the grip position of the gripper.
The method of claim 1,
The unit cell transfer method further comprises the step of releasing the sound pressure block when the unit cell leaves the conveyor belt by the gripper.
The method of claim 1,
The point at which the sound pressure is cut off is a point at which the distance between the point at which the unit cell is gripped by the gripper and the point at which the sound pressure is cut off is formed within a range of 1 to 10 times the length of the unit cell. Conveying method.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The gripper inserting the unit cell between the rollers,
The gripper grips the unit cell at a predetermined pick position;
Moving the gripper in a state where the gripper grips the unit cell to a predetermined alignment position and performing posture correction at the alignment position of the unit cell;
Moving, by the gripper, the unit cell to a foot position at which an end of the unit cell enters between rollers while the posture correction of the unit cell is performed; And
And ungrip after the gripper moves to the gripped state of the unit cell according to the feeding speed of the unit cell while the unit cell is inserted between the rollers.
A time point at which the gripper ungrips the unit cell is controlled differently according to the size of the unit cell.
The method of claim 4, wherein
And a time point at which the gripper ungrips the unit cell while the unit cell passes through the roller at 50 to 80% of the total length.
As a device for conveying a unit cell for inserting a plate-shaped unit cell between a pair of rollers,
The conveyor belt with the intake hole on the surface rotates continuously along the circumference of the housing to move the unit cell placed on the conveyor belt, but a negative pressure can be applied to the intake hole so that the unit cell can be adsorbed onto the surface of the conveyor belt. Conveyor section;
A pair of rollers disposed at a predetermined distance from the conveyor; And
And a gripper which grips the unit cell reaching a specific point of the conveyor belt and moves in the gripped state, and then inserts the unit cell between the rollers.
The method of claim 6,
The conveyor unit,
housing;
A vacuum generator mounted in the housing to generate a negative pressure;
A conveyor belt having a plurality of intake holes perforated to rotate along an outer circumference of the housing and serve as the unit cell in which a negative pressure formed in the vacuum generator is seated; And
And a solenoid for controlling sound pressure generation in the vacuum generator.
The method of claim 7, wherein
The plurality of vacuum generators are arranged in a row in the housing along the longitudinal direction of the housing and each vacuum generator is paired with each of the individual solenoids, so that the negative pressure generation is independently controlled in each of the individual vacuum generators. Unit cell transfer device characterized in that.
The method of claim 7, wherein
The vacuum generator,
A chamber chamber having a constant volume and being opened while the intake hole passes; And
And a compressed air pass pipe that is opened with the chamber chamber and passes through compressed air supplied from a surge tank, and has a narrow portion having a shape in which the inner diameter gradually decreases and gradually increases.
The unit cell transfer device, characterized in that the negative pressure is generated in the chamber chamber by the Venturi effect (Venturi effect) generated during the passage of the compressed air.

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