KR20220025502A - Device of manufacturing a secondary battery - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for manufacturing a secondary battery includes: a first magazine for loading a plurality of half cells; a second magazine for loading a plurality of second electrodes; a stack unit for alternately stacking the plurality of half cells loaded on the first magazine, and the plurality of second electrodes loaded on the second magazine; and an aligning unit for aligning the second electrodes stacked on the half cell.

Description

Device of manufacturing a secondary battery

The embodiment relates to a secondary battery manufacturing apparatus.

The pouch-type lithium secondary battery (hereinafter referred to as the secondary battery cell) as a unit cell of the secondary battery has flexibility, is relatively free in shape, is light in weight, and has excellent safety. Demand is increasing.

The manufacturing process of secondary battery cells is divided into three main processes: electrode, assembly, and activation.

In the electrode process, materials are mixed in an appropriate ratio to make an anode and a cathode, coated on aluminum foil as an anode or copper foil as a cathode, and compressed to a uniform thickness through a roll press to make it flat. After making, it is a slitting process that cuts to fit the electrode size.

The assembly process goes through notching to remove unnecessary parts from the electrode, and then alternately stacks the positive electrode, separator, and negative electrode layer by layer and then folds them several times according to the battery capacity. It is a process of performing a winding process, packaging with an aluminum film packaging material, injecting electrolyte, and sealing in a vacuum state.

The activation (formation) process is a process of activating a secondary battery cell while repeating charging/discharging of the assembled secondary battery cell, and performing a degassing process of discharging gas generated in the secondary battery cell during activation.

A stacking process in which the half cell and the positive electrode are stacked is performed in the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus. At this time, the positive electrode is stacked corresponding to the negative electrode of the half cell.

Conventionally, there is a problem that the defect rate is very high because the alignment between the negative electrode and the positive electrode of the half cell is not properly made.

The embodiments aim to solve the above and other problems.

Another object of the embodiment is to provide an apparatus for manufacturing a secondary battery capable of accurate alignment.

Another object of the embodiment is to provide an apparatus for manufacturing a secondary battery capable of improving matching between the negative electrode and the positive electrode.

According to one aspect of the embodiment to achieve the above or other object, the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus, a first magazine for loading a plurality of half cells; a second magazine for loading a plurality of second electrodes; a stack unit for alternately stacking a plurality of half cells loaded on the first magazine and a plurality of second electrodes loaded on the second magazine; and an aligning unit aligning the second electrode stacked on the half-cell.

The effect of the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus according to the embodiment will be described as follows.

According to at least one of the embodiments, by generating a plurality of half-cells and a plurality of second electrodes in advance and alternately stacking the half-cells and the second electrodes, the process time can be shortened and the number of processes can be drastically reduced. there is.

According to at least one of the embodiments, it is possible to align the half-cell or the second electrode in real time while stacking the half-cell and the second electrode, so that the degree of agreement between the first electrode and the second electrode of the half-cell is improved and accurate Since alignment is possible, there is an advantage in that alignment defects can be prevented.

Further scope of applicability of embodiments will become apparent from the following detailed description. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific embodiments, such as preferred embodiments, are given by way of example only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the embodiments may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for manufacturing a secondary battery according to an embodiment.
2 shows a first magazine of an embodiment.
3 shows a second magazine of an embodiment;
4 shows a stack portion and an align portion of the embodiment.
5 is a block diagram illustrating the bottom cell laminator of the embodiment.
6 illustrates a state in which a second electrode is produced by using a third cutter.
7 illustrates a lamination process and a stacking process in the apparatus for manufacturing a secondary battery according to an embodiment.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the technical spirit of the present invention is not limited to some of the described embodiments, but may be implemented in various different forms, and within the scope of the technical spirit of the present invention, one or more of the components may be selected between the embodiments. It can be used by combining or substituted with . In addition, terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in the embodiments of the present invention may be generally understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs, unless specifically defined and described explicitly. It may be interpreted as a meaning, and generally used terms such as terms defined in advance may be interpreted in consideration of the contextual meaning of the related art. In addition, the terminology used in the embodiments of the present invention is for describing the embodiments and is not intended to limit the present invention. In this specification, the singular form may also include the plural form unless otherwise specified in the phrase, and when it is described as "at least one (or more than one) of B and (and) C", it can be combined with A, B, and C. It may include one or more of all combinations. In addition, in describing the components of the embodiment of the present invention, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b), etc. may be used. These terms are only for distinguishing the component from other components, and are not limited to the essence, order, or order of the component by the term. And, when it is described that a component is 'connected', 'coupled' or 'connected' to another component, the component is not only directly connected, coupled or connected to the other component, but also with the component It may also include a case of 'connected', 'coupled' or 'connected' due to another element between the other elements. In addition, when it is described as being formed or disposed on "above (above) or under (below)" of each component, the upper (above) or lower (below) is not only when two components are in direct contact with each other, but also one Also includes a case in which the above another component is formed or disposed between two components. In addition, when expressed as “up (up) or down (down)”, it may include not only the upward direction but also the meaning of the downward direction based on one component.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for manufacturing a secondary battery according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the apparatus 100 for manufacturing a secondary battery according to the embodiment may include a first magazine 110 , a second magazine 120 , a stack unit 130 , and an alignment unit 140 .

The first magazine 110 is shown in FIG. 2 . It may be a space or a place in which a plurality of half cells 210 are loaded. A plurality of half-cells 210 generated in the previous half-cell laminating process (performed by the half-cell laminator 150 ) may be loaded in the first magazine 110 .

The half-cell 210 includes a first separator 211 , a first electrode 212 , and a second separator 213 . A manufacturing process of the half-cell 210 will be described later.

For example, the plurality of half cells 210 may be stacked in the vertical direction on the first magazine 110 , but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The second magazine 120 may be a space or a place in which a plurality of second electrodes 220 are loaded, as shown in FIG. 3 . The plurality of second electrodes generated in the previous process of the cutting process (performed by the third cutter 160 ) may be loaded in the second magazine 120 .

For example, the plurality of second electrodes may be stacked on the second magazine 120 in a vertical direction, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

For example, the first electrode 212 may be a cathode and the second electrode may be an anode, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the stack unit 130 may alternately stack the half cell 210 and the second electrode on the stage 131 . For example, the stack unit 130 may include a robot arm (not shown). The robot arm draws out the half cell 210 and the second electrode from the first magazine 110 and the second magazine 120 , respectively, and the half cell 210 and the second electrode on the stage 131 of the stack unit 130 . can be repeatedly laminated.

For example, the stack unit 130 may include a fixing unit (not shown) for holding the stacked half-cells 210 and the second electrode whenever the half-cells 210 or the second electrodes are stacked.

The aligning unit 140 may align the half-cells 210 and the second electrodes whenever the half-cells 210 or the second electrodes are stacked.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4 , the alignment unit 140 may include a camera 141 disposed around the stack unit 130 , for example, on the stage 131 . The camera 141 may acquire image information on the half-cells 210 or the second electrodes whenever the half-cells 210 or the second electrodes are stacked.

For example, based on the image information acquired by the camera 141 , it may be obtained whether a mismatch has occurred between the first electrode 212 and the second electrode of the half-cell 210 .

When a mismatch does not occur between the first electrode 212 and the second electrode of the half-cell 210 , the first electrode 212 and the second electrode of the half-cell 210 may be accurately aligned. When a mismatch occurs between the first electrode 212 and the second electrode of the half-cell 210 , at least one of the first electrode 212 and the second electrode of the half-cell 210 may be aligned.

The alignment unit 140 may include a driving unit 143 that controls the stack unit 130 , that is, the stage 131 to move in the x-axis or the y-axis. When a mismatch occurs between the first electrode 212 of the half-cell 210 and the second electrode stacked on the half-cell 210 , the driving unit 143 based on the image information acquired by the camera 141 . Thus, the stage 131 may be controlled to align the first electrode 212 and the second electrode of the half-cell 210 .

The driving unit 143 may be installed on the stage 131 .

For example, the alignment process may be performed before the second electrode is placed on the half-cell 210 or before the half-cell 210 is placed on the second electrode.

For example, after the half-cell 210 is drawn out from the first magazine 110 and placed on the stage 131 , image information about the half-cell 210 , in particular, the first electrode 212 is displayed by the camera 141 . Image information about the may be obtained. Thereafter, the second electrode is pulled out from the second magazine 120 and positioned on the half cell 210 , and image information on the second electrode may be acquired by the camera 141 .

Thereafter, by comparing the image information of the second electrode with the image information of the first electrode 212 , it may be obtained whether the second electrode is mismatched with respect to the first electrode 212 .

If there is no mismatch between the second electrode and the first electrode 212 , the half-cell 210 is drawn out from the first magazine 110 and positioned on the second electrode and captured by the camera 141 . Image information about the two electrodes may be obtained.

If the second electrode mismatch occurs with the first electrode 212 , the stage 131 may be moved along the x-axis or the y-axis to align the first electrode 212 with the second electrode.

The image information on the second electrode may be used as reference image information for aligning the first electrode 212 of the half-cell 210 stacked on the second electrode.

Although FIG. 4 shows that the stage 131 is moved to the x-axis or the y-axis to adjust the alignment, the robot arm may be moved to the x-axis or the y-axis to adjust the alignment. That is, when a mismatch occurs between the second electrode and the first electrode 212 , the robot arm holding the second electrode moves along the x-axis or the y-axis so that the second electrode aligns with the first electrode 212 . can be stamped In this case, the driving unit 143 may control the robot arm to move along the x-axis or the y-axis.

Meanwhile, the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment may include a half-cell laminator 150 . For example, the half-cell laminator 150 may generate a plurality of half-cells 210 .

As shown in FIG. 5 , the half-cell laminator 150 may include a first cutter 151 , a matching part 153 , and a second cutter 155 .

The first cutter 151 may cut the first electrode 212 in units of cells. For example, when the first electrode sheet passes under the first cutter 151 in one direction, the first cutter 151 periodically cuts the first electrode sheet to generate a plurality of first electrodes 212 . there is. Accordingly, the plurality of first electrodes 212 may be formed from the first electrode sheet.

The matching part 153 may be a half-cell stack in which the first and second separators 213 are aligned below and above the generated first electrodes 212 . Accordingly, a plurality of first electrodes 212 spaced apart from each other in one direction may be positioned between the first separator 211 and the second separator 213 .

The second cutter 155 may cut the half-cell laminate in cell units. For example, when the stacked body for half-cells passes under the second cutter 155 in one direction, the second cutter 155 periodically cuts the stacked body for half-cells to generate a plurality of half-cells 210 . Accordingly, each of the plurality of half cells 210 may include a first separator 211 , a first electrode 212 , and a second separator 213 .

In the half-cell laminate, a plurality of first electrodes 212 are disposed spaced apart from each other between the first separator 211 and the second separator 213, and a point between the spaced apart first electrodes 212 is cut. Thus, the half cell 210 may be generated. Accordingly, in the half-cell 210 , the width of the first electrode 212 may be smaller than the width of the first separator 211 or the second separator 213 . The width of the first separator 211 and the width of the second separator 213 may be the same.

Meanwhile, the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment may include a third cutter 160 .

The third cutter 160 may cut the second electrode in units of cells.

For example, the third cutter 160 may generate a plurality of second electrodes by cutting the second electrode sheets 220a and 220a as shown in FIG. 6 . For example, when the second electrode sheets 220a and 220a pass under the second cutter 155 in one direction, the third cutter 160 periodically cuts the second electrode sheets 220a and 220a. A plurality of second electrodes may be generated. Accordingly, the plurality of second electrodes may be generated from the second electrode sheet 220a. The second electrode may be an anode.

Meanwhile, as described above, the plurality of half-cells 210 generated by the half-cell laminator 150 may be loaded in the first magazine 110 and then moved to the stack unit 130 .

Alternatively, since the first magazine 110 is omitted, the plurality of half-cells 210 generated in the half-cell laminator 150 may be directly moved to the stack unit 130 without being loaded in the first magazine 110 . there is. That is, after the plurality of second electrodes are loaded in the second magazine 120 in advance, the plurality of half-cells 210 generated in the half-cell laminator 150 are moved to the stack unit 130 , and the stack unit 130 . ), the half-cell 210 moved by the robot arm and the second electrode loaded in the second magazine 120 may be alternately stacked on the stage 131 .

7 illustrates a lamination process and a stacking process in the apparatus for manufacturing a secondary battery according to an embodiment.

1 to 7 , a plurality of half cells 210 may be generated by the lamination process and loaded in the first magazine 110 .

The lamination process may be divided into a cathode cutting process, a matching process, and a half-cell cutting process.

The cathode cutting process is a process of generating the plurality of first electrodes 212 from the first electrode sheet using the first cutter 151 . The first electrode 212 may be a cathode.

In the matching process, a plurality of first electrodes 212 spaced apart from each other in one direction are disposed on the first separator 211 , and a second separator 213 is disposed on the plurality of first electrodes 212 , thereby forming a half It is a process of producing|generating the laminated body for cells.

The half-cell cutting process is a process of generating a plurality of unit cells from the half-cell laminate using the second cutter 155 .

Although not shown, the plurality of unit cells may be loaded in the first magazine 110 .

Meanwhile, a plurality of second electrodes may be generated from the second electrode sheet 220a using the third cutter 160 . The plurality of second electrodes generated in this way may be loaded in the second magazine 120 .

The stacking process is a process of stacking the half cell 210 and the second electrode.

When the half-cell 210 and the second electrode are stacked in the stacking process, image information on the first electrode 212 or the second electrode of the half-cell 210 is displayed by the camera 141 of the aligning unit 140 . is obtained, and the first electrode 212 of the half cell 210 is aligned with the second electrode by controlling the stage 131 or the robot arm based on the image information by the driver 143 or the second electrode is half It may be aligned with the first electrode 212 of the cell 210 .

Although not shown, the secondary battery manufacturing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment may include a control unit. The controller may control components of the apparatus 100 for manufacturing a secondary battery according to an embodiment. For example, the controller may generate a control signal for controlling the driver 143 based on image information acquired by the camera 141 . The control signal may be a control signal for aligning the first electrode 212 of the half-cell 210 with the second electrode or aligning the second electrode with the first electrode 212 of the half-cell 210 . The driving unit 143 may perform a predetermined alignment by driving the stage 131 or the robot arm according to a control signal provided from the control unit.

Therefore, in the embodiment, by generating a plurality of half cells 210 and a plurality of second electrodes in advance, and alternately stacking the half cells 210 and the second electrodes, the process time can be shortened and the number of processes can be dramatically reduced. .

The embodiment may align the half-cell 210 or the second electrode in real time while stacking the half-cell 210 and the second electrode, so that the first electrode 212 and the second electrode of the half-cell 210 may be aligned. It is possible to improve the degree of conformity and to prevent an alignment defect by enabling accurate alignment.

The above detailed description should not be construed as restrictive in all respects and should be considered as exemplary. The scope of the embodiments should be determined by a reasonable interpretation of the appended claims, and all modifications within the equivalent scope of the embodiments are included in the scope of the embodiments.

100: secondary battery manufacturing device
110: first magazine
120: second magazine
130: stack unit
131: stage
140: align part
141: camera
143: driving unit
150: half cell laminator
151: first cutter
153: coincidence
155: second cutter
160: third cutter
210: half cell
211: first separator
212: first electrode
213: second separator
220: second electrode
220a: second electrode sheet

Claims (8)

a first magazine for loading a plurality of half cells;
a second magazine for loading a plurality of second electrodes;
a stack unit for alternately stacking a plurality of half cells loaded on the first magazine and a plurality of second electrodes loaded on the second magazine; and
and an aligning unit for aligning the second electrode stacked on the half-cell.
Secondary battery manufacturing device. According to claim 1,
The alignment unit includes a camera disposed on the stack unit
Secondary battery manufacturing device. 3. The method of claim 2,
The alignment unit includes a driving unit for performing alignment driving based on image information obtained by the camera.
Secondary battery manufacturing device. 4. The method of claim 3,
The driving unit is installed in the stack
Secondary battery manufacturing device. According to claim 1,
and a half-cell laminator for generating the plurality of half-cells.
Secondary battery manufacturing device. 6. The method of claim 5,
The half-cell laminator,
a first cutter for cutting the first electrode in units of cells;
a laminating unit for laminating a plurality of first electrodes spaced apart in a horizontal direction between the first separator and the second separator;
and a second cutter configured to cut the first and second separators between the first electrodes to generate the plurality of half cells.
Secondary battery manufacturing device. 7. The method of claim 6,
The first electrode is a cathode,
The second electrode is an anode
Secondary battery manufacturing device. According to claim 1,
and a third cutter for cutting the electrode member to generate a plurality of second electrodes.
Secondary battery manufacturing device.

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