Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B23—MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B23D—PLANING; SLOTTING; SHEARING; BROACHING; SAWING; FILING; SCRAPING; LIKE OPERATIONS FOR WORKING METAL BY REMOVING MATERIAL, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B23D25/00—Machines or arrangements for shearing stock while the latter is travelling otherwise than in the direction of the cut
  • B23D25/02—Flying shearing machines
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
  • B21D—WORKING OR PROCESSING OF SHEET METAL OR METAL TUBES, RODS OR PROFILES WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
  • B21D31/00—Other methods for working sheet metal, metal tubes, metal profiles
  • B21D31/04—Expanding other than provided for in groups B21D1/00 - B21D28/00, e.g. for making expanded metal
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
  • H01M4/00—Electrodes
  • H01M4/02—Electrodes composed of, or comprising, active material
  • H01M4/64—Carriers or collectors
  • H01M4/70—Carriers or collectors characterised by shape or form
  • H01M4/72—Grids
  • H01M4/74—Meshes or woven material; Expanded metal
  • H01M4/745—Expanded metal
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
  • H01M4/00—Electrodes
  • H01M4/02—Electrodes composed of, or comprising, active material
  • H01M4/64—Carriers or collectors
  • H01M4/82—Multi-step processes for manufacturing carriers for lead-acid accumulators
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E60/00—Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
  • Y02E60/10—Energy storage using batteries

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a machine for the formation of grids for electric accumulator plates.
• the machine according to the present invention may be for being 10 advantageously employed for production processes of electric accumulators wherein a continuous grid is obtained starting from a continuous lead ribbon or tape, which continuous grid is cut into pieces of predetermined length to obtain single plates to be inserted into electric accumulators.
• the machines for forming lead tapes operate in a generally intermittent fashion.
• such machines are traditionally provided with a feeding system that is capable of advancing the lead tape stepwise through a die by means of which the tape is expanded and consequently the grid mesh is formed.
• the tape stops in correspondence of the expansion area in order to be formed and expanded by the teeth of the die, which is generally actuated by movement means also coupled with the feeding system. Once the expansion has taken place, the tape advances by a
• a further shortcoming stems from the fact that these machines do not allow production of grids having very high quality level. This is particularly due to the stepwise advancement of the lead tape that is imparted by the discontinuous feeding system. In fact such a system brings about several inaccuracies in the correct positioning of the tape in the expansion area because of the repeated stop-and-go phases.
• the thus obtained grid production characterised by an uneven distribution of mesh that cause the grids to acquire a rather irregular aspect.
• This machine comprises movement means for the advancement of a continuous tape across a formation area associated with die means moved by actuating means according to a motion law having a component oriented along the tape advancement direction and another component oriented along a direction that is substantially normal to the tape advancement direction.
• the first component allows the die teeth to advance substantially in synchronously way with respect to the tape, whereas the second component allows the die teeth to indent and expand the tape during a pressing phase of the machine.
• this machine enables to achieve improved productivity and quality with respect to the prior known machine, it entails a remarkable operative limitation due to the fact that the die is actually provided with substantially the same advancement speed of the tape only along the forming tract, whilst at the end of such tract it is subject to a remarkable deceleration along the tape advancement direction and to an acceleration along the detachment direction of the die.
• a further drawback of this known machine resides in that it does not allow to vary in a cost effective and simple way the type of expansion to be carried out on the lead tape, and consequently to change the final shape of the continuous grid to be obtained.
• Such shape variation is ever rhore felt within the field of electric accumulator production as it is in this field there is an increasing tendency to differentiate the shape of the positive grid with respect to that of the negative grid because of their different electrochemical behaviour.
• a primary object of the present invention is therefore to overcome the drawbacks affecting the machines of the known types by providing a machine for the production of electric accumulators grids, which enables to continuously form lead tapes with expansions having the desired extent, and in particular having remarkable sizes.
• a further object of the present invention is to provide a machine that allows to vary the forming of the tape, hence the shape of the grid product by means of simple adjustment operations.
• Another object of the present invention is to provide a machine with an optimum operating rate that allows to maintain the extent of the tape expansions constant at any operating speed and in particular during the start-up and stopping phases.
• a further object of the present invention is to provide a machine that is structurally simple and operatingly fully reliable in use.
• the machine for making accumulator grids according to the present invention, that comprises a supporting structure lying on the ground, die means mounted on the supporting structure and operatively acting upon a continuous lead tape that moves at a substantially constant advancement speed along an advancement direction, moving means for moving the die means with a jspeed component oriented along the advancement direction, to allow the die means to advance in a substantially synchronous manner with respect to the continuous tape and with an expansion speed component which is oriented along a direction that is normal to the advancement direction in order to accomplish the expansion of the continuous tape, the moving means comprising at least one first motorised eccentric shaft mechanically coupled to the die means through a movement transmission unit.
• the machine is characterised in that the movement means further comprise a second eccentric shaft driven in phase from the first eccentric shaft, which second eccentric shaft being also mechanically coupled with the movement transmission unit for imparting to the die means a speed correcting component oriented along the translation direction and in opposite sense with respect thereto.
• the machine according to the present invention is constructively simple and operatively fully reliable.
• FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a production line of electric accumulator plates incorporating the forming machine according to the present invention
• FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a side view of the machine with some parts sectioned and removed to better show the structure of other parts;
• FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a first cross sectional view of the machine according to the invention with some parts thereof removed, said cross section being taken along the line Ill-Ill of Fig. 2;
• FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a second cross sectional view of the machine according to the invention with some parts thereof removed, said cross section being taken removed along line IV-IV of Fig. 2;
• FIG. 5 illustrates a magnified detail of the machine according to the invention and relating to a carriage engaged onto a guide;
• FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic view of the movement means of the die for the indentation and expansion of the continuous tape.
• the machine is operatively interposed between a feeding unit 2 for feeding a continuous lead tape (not illustrated in the drawings as being of a well known type) arranged upstream of a traction unit 3.
• a feeding unit 2 for feeding a continuous lead tape (not illustrated in the drawings as being of a well known type) arranged upstream of a traction unit 3.
• a grid flattering unit 4 and a lug cutting unit 5 may also be provided.
• the production of lead grids may be accomplished by means of a single and very compact production plant 6 depicted in Fig. 1 .
• machine 1 for forming a continuous lead tape for the production of electric accumulators plates, considering that the material making up the tape may be any alloy suitable for the production of electric accumulators.
• the machine comprises a supporting structure 7 lying on the ground, die means 9 mounted on the supporting structure in correspondence of an expansion zone 8, the die means 8 being operatively acting on a continuous tape 10 in order to cause expansion and formation thereof.
• the tape moves across the expansion zone 8 along an advancement direction A with a substantially constant advancement speed imparted by feeding unit 2 and by a traction unit 3 mentioned above.
• Die means 9 are actuated by movement means 10 to cyclically exert pressing and expanding action onto the tape passing through the expansion zone 8.
• these movement means drive die means 9 according to a motion law providing an advancement speed component oriented along the advancement direction A, to enable the die means to advance in substantially synchronous way with the tape, and an expansion speed component oriented along a direction B that is normal to the advancement direction A to accomplish the expansion of the tape.
• the movement means 10 are driven by means of two first eccentric shafts 1 1 (see fig. 2) which are brought into rotation by a motor (not shown) and they are mechanically coupled with die means 9 through a movement motion transmission unit 1 2. This latter also fulfills the function of supporting the die means 9, while discharging their weight onto the first eccentric shafts 1 1 .
• movement means 10 -further comprise a second eccentric shaft 1 3 which is rotary driven in phase with the first eccentric shafts 1 1 and is also mechanically coupled with the movement transmission unit 1 3 to thereby impart to die means 9 a correcting component speed oriented along the advancement direction A and in opposition thereto.
• a compensation effect of the advancement speed held by die means 9 takes place both during the tape expansion phase and during the subsequent phase of detachment from the tape surface.
• the two eccentric shafts 1 1 and 1 3 are interconnected and synchronised in such a way that, when the die means 9 start to perform the tape following it at a predetermined advancement speed, the speed compensation due to the action of second eccentric shaft 1 3 attains the minimum value.
• the compensation reaches its maximum amount in correspondence of the highest value of the advancement speed of die means 9.
• the movement transmission unit 1 2 comprises connection means 14 having a first end 1 5 coupled with the first eccentric shaft 1 1 and a second end 1 6 coupled with the eccentric shaft 1 3.
• connection means 14 comprise one first pair of a arms 1 7 and one second pair of arms 18 that are mutually interconnected at one end thereof by hinges 1 9.
• the first pair of arms 1 7 is further fixed with its other end 1 5 to a first trunnion 20 mounted on the first eccentric shaft 1 ⁇
• the second pair of arms 1 8 is fixed with its other end 16 to a second trunnion 21 mounted around a second eccentric shaft 1 3.
• the first pair of arms 1 7 horizontally supports the ends of a supporting shaft 22 which in turn supports a frame 23 carrying die means 9.
• Frame 23 is mechanically coupled to supporting shaft 22 by means of bearings 24 which allow free rotation thereof about the axis R of shaft 22.
• the above mentioned die means 9 are provided with a plurality of teeth 25 that are caused to interact with the continuous tape to indent and expand it along a normal direction B with respect to its horizontal advancement direction A.
• Teeth 25 are arranged along a plurality of parallel rows that are symmetrically positioned with respect to a middle plane P on a plate 26 that is integral with frame 23.
• a detaching member 27 is advantageously located between teeth 25, which member is integral with the supporting structure 7 of machine 1 and serves to detach the grid edges formed by teeth 25 of die means 9.
• the expansion exerted onto the tape is accomplished by the combined action of die means 9 and of a counter-knife 28 that is mechanically connected to the movement transmission unit 12 through transmission means 29 which drive the counter-knife 28 along the advancement direction A having the same speed component held by die means 9.
• counter-knife 28 is rigidly secured to a slide 30 that is slidingly mounted on guides 31 mechanically fixed to supporting structure 7 in order to guidingly support counter-knife 28 along the advancement direction A.
• transmission means 29 comprise pairs of vertical columns 29' that are integral with the movement transmission unit 1 2 (and are particularly fixed in proximity of plate 26 bearing teeth 25), which columns are free to vertically slide inside second guides 32 integral with slide 30 in order to move counter- knife 28 along the advancement direction A.
• guides 31 supporting counter-knife 28 by means of slide 30 are mechanically coupled with a pair of third eccentric shafts 33 which are provided on the supporting structure 7 and that are capable of adjusting the vertical position of counter-knife 28 with respect tb die means 9 according to their angular position.
• Third eccentric shafts 33 are brought into rotation by a motor 34 through reduction gears 35.
• the machine further comprises adjustment means 37 for changing the phase between first eccentric shaft 1 1 and second eccentric shaft 1 3.
• said adjustment means 37 comprise a graduated scale 36 positioned in correspondence of second eccentric shaft 1 3, which makes it possible to controllingly rotate the second eccentric shaft 13 when this latter is uncoupled from first eccentric shaft 1 1 .
• the coupling with first eccentric shaft J1 1 is re-established with a phase changed by a predetermined amount. In such a way, it is possible to change the motion law followed by the die means 9 and counter-knife 28 in order to produce grids with meshes having different conformations.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Electrochemistry (AREA)
• General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Perforating, Stamping-Out Or Severing By Means Other Than Cutting (AREA)
• Cell Electrode Carriers And Collectors (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=11133529

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Cited By (2)

Citations (5)

• 2000
  • 2000-06-14 AU AU55656/00A patent/AU5565600A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-06-14 CA CA 2412325 patent/CA2412325A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-06-14 WO PCT/IT2000/000247 patent/WO2001096043A1/it active IP Right Grant
  • 2000-06-14 CN CNB008196575A patent/CN1253266C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related

Patent Citations (5)

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