WO2020110207A1

WO2020110207A1 - Positioning and conveying device and positioning and conveying method

Info

Publication number: WO2020110207A1
Application number: PCT/JP2018/043631
Authority: WO
Inventors: 孝明戸枝
Original assignee: 株式会社エンビジョンＡｅｓｃジャパン
Priority date: 2018-11-27
Filing date: 2018-11-27
Publication date: 2020-06-04
Also published as: JPWO2020110207A1

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a positioning and conveying device and a positioning and conveying method which are capable of conveying a battery while maintaining high positioning accuracy of the battery. [Solution] A positioning and conveying device 10 comprises: a pallet 20 on which a battery 110 is mounted; a clamp 21 which holds the battery with respect to the pallet; a linear conveyor 30 which conveys the pallet; a mounting robot 40 which holds and mounts the battery on the pallet; a detection unit 50 which detects the position of a reference part 210 set in an electrode tab 113 of the battery; and a control unit 70. The control unit holds the battery by the mounting robot, detects, by the detection unit, the position of the reference part of the battery held by the mounting robot, performs positioning by making a correction for matching the position of the reference part of the battery to a reference position 220 of the detection unit installed at preset facility machine coordinates, holds the battery with respect to the pallet by the clamp, and conveys the pallet by the linear conveyor.

Description

Positioning/conveying device and positioning/conveying method

The present invention relates to a positioning/conveying device and a positioning/conveying method.

The battery module installed in the vehicle has a battery stack in which multiple flat batteries with electrode tabs are stacked. When processing the electrode tab, the battery is placed on a pallet and transported to the processing position. If the positioning accuracy of the pallet or a device for transporting the pallet with respect to the machine coordinate is poor, the positioning accuracy of the battery at the processing position may not meet the requirement.

For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a method in which a battery has a through hole and a battery is positioned by inserting a positioning pin into the through hole.

JP, 2014-22325, A

However, there is a clearance between the through hole and the positioning pin. When the battery is positioned with respect to the pallet by the method of Patent Document 1, the relative position of the battery with respect to the machine mechanical coordinates may vary due to the existence of the clearance and the variation of the positioning pin for each pallet. In particular, when processing the electrode tabs of the battery, the required accuracy of positioning is high, so even if there is a slight variation, the desired processing accuracy may not be obtained.

An object of the present invention is to provide a positioning and transporting device and a positioning and transporting method capable of transporting a battery while maintaining the positioning accuracy of the battery with high precision.

The positioning and conveying device according to the present invention that achieves the above object is a positioning and conveying device that positions and conveys a flat battery having an electrode tab. The positioning and transporting device includes a pallet on which the battery is placed, a holding unit that holds the battery on the pallet, a transporting unit that transports the pallet, and a battery that holds the battery and places it on the pallet. A placement robot, a detection unit that detects the position of a reference unit that is set on the electrode tab of the battery, and a control unit that controls the operation of the holding unit, the transfer unit, the placement robot, and the detection unit. , With. The control unit holds the battery by the placement robot, detects the position of the reference portion of the electrode tab in a state of being held by the placement robot by the detection unit, and detects the position of the reference portion of the battery. The position is corrected and aligned so as to match the reference position of the detection unit installed at the preset equipment machine coordinates, the battery is held by the holding unit with respect to the pallet, and the pallet is held by the transfer unit. Transport.

The positioning and conveying method according to the present invention which achieves the above object is a positioning and conveying method for positioning and conveying a flat battery provided with an electrode tab. The positioning and conveying method detects the position of the reference part set on the electrode tab of the battery by the detection part, and corrects the position of the reference part to match the reference position of the detection part installed on the machine machine coordinates. And position the battery, hold the battery against the pallet, and transport the pallet.

It is a perspective view which shows a battery module. It is a perspective view which decomposes|disassembles and shows some battery modules shown in FIG. It is a side view which shows the principal part of the battery module shown in FIG. 1 in a cross section. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing one battery of the battery stack shown in FIG. 2. It is a perspective view which shows the battery before processing an electrode tab. It is a top view which shows the structure of a positioning conveyance apparatus typically. It is a side view which shows typically a mode that a battery is mounted by the positioning conveyance apparatus. It is a top view which shows typically a mode that a positioning conveyance apparatus conveys a battery. FIG. 6 is a side view showing how the position of the reference portion of the electrode tab is detected while the battery is held by the second robot. FIG. 7B is a side view showing a cross section of a main part of a state where the position of the reference part of the electrode tab shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state before correcting the attitude|position of a battery. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state which corrected the battery to the XY biaxial direction. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state which carried out rotation correction of the battery centering on the Z-axis following FIG. 8B. It is a flow chart which shows a procedure of positioning transportation processing by a positioning transportation device.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same members, and duplicate description will be omitted. In the drawings, the size and ratio of each member may be exaggerated to facilitate understanding of the embodiment and may differ from the actual size and ratio.

The XYZ axes attached to the figure show the orientation of the battery module 100. The X axis indicates a direction that intersects the stacking direction of the batteries 110 and that is along the longitudinal direction of the batteries 110. The Y axis indicates a direction that intersects the stacking direction of the batteries 110 and is along the lateral direction of the batteries 110. The Z axis represents the stacking direction of the batteries 110.

(Battery module 100)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the battery module 100. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of the battery module 100 shown in FIG. 1 in an exploded manner. First, the battery module 100 including the battery stack 110S will be described.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the battery module 100 includes a battery stack 110S formed by stacking a plurality of flat batteries 110 in a module case 120. The module case 120 is composed of four plate members and also functions as a pressurizing unit that pressurizes the battery stack 110S. The plurality of batteries 110 are electrically connected by the bus bar unit 130 while being pressurized by the module case 120. Although not shown, an adhesive or pressure sensitive adhesive is applied between the stacked batteries 110.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a cross section of a main part of the battery module 100. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing one battery 110 of the battery stack 110S. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, battery 110 is, for example, a flat lithium ion secondary battery. The battery 110 has a main body 110H in which a power generation element 111 is sealed with a pair of laminate films 112, and a thin plate-shaped electrode tab 113. The power generation element 111 is formed by stacking a positive electrode and a negative electrode via a separator. The power generation element 111 is sealed with a laminate film 112 together with the electrolytic solution. With reference to FIG. 4, the outer peripheral portion of the laminated film 112 is sealed by a sealing portion 112s joined by heat welding or the like.

The laminate film 112 is formed by covering both sides of a metal foil with an insulating sheet. The laminate film 112 is formed by bending both end portions 112d along the longitudinal direction X upward in the laminating direction Z. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the battery 110 before the

spacers

114 and 115 are arranged. Referring to FIG. 5, the laminate film 112 has connection holes 112a formed at the four corners.

Referring to FIG. 3, the electrode tab 113 is electrically connected to the power generating element 111 and is led out from the laminate film 112 to the outside. Referring to FIG. 4, the electrode tab 113 has an anode side electrode tab 113A and a cathode side electrode tab 113K. Both the anode-side electrode tab 113A and the cathode-side electrode tab 113K extend from one end portion along the lateral direction Y of the laminate film 112 toward one direction along the longitudinal direction X (left front side in FIG. 4).

With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the electrode tab 113 is bent and formed in an L shape from the base end portion 113c to the tip end portion 113d. A tip portion 113d of the electrode tab 113 is formed in a planar shape so as to face the bus bar 132. Note that the electrode tab 113 is not limited to the L-shape shown in the figure, but has an appropriate shape in relation to the shape of the bus bar 132. The material forming the anode-side electrode tab 113A is, for example, aluminum, and the material forming the cathode-side electrode tab 113K is, for example, copper.

Referring to FIG. 4, in the battery 110, the side provided with the electrode tab 113 is supported by the pair of first spacers 114, and the side not provided with the electrode tab 113 is supported by the pair of second spacers 115. The batteries 110 are stacked while being supported by the

spacers

114 and 115. The first spacer 114 has a connecting pin 114a inserted into the connecting hole 112a of the laminate film 112, and the second spacer 115 has a connecting pin 115a inserted into the connecting hole 112a. The

spacers

114, 115 are connected to the laminate film 112 by thermally caulking the tips of the connecting

pins

114a, 115a. Each of the

spacers

114 and 115 is made of insulating reinforced plastic.

The first spacer 114 has mounting portions 114b at both ends in the longitudinal direction (transverse direction Y), and the second spacer 115 has mounting portions 115b at both ends in the longitudinal direction (transverse direction Y). is doing. When stacking the batteries 110, the first spacers 114 contact the mounting portions 114b adjacent to each other in the stacking direction, and the second spacers 115 contact the mounting portions 115b adjacent to each other in the stacking direction.

Pins

114c and 115c are formed on the upper surfaces of the mounting

portions

114b and 115b. A hole 114d corresponding to the position of the pin 114c is formed on the lower surface of the mounting portion 114b (see FIG. 3). Similarly, a hole (not shown) corresponding to the position of the pin 115c is formed on the lower surface of the mounting portion 115b. Through

holes

114e and 115e for inserting the through bolts are formed in the mounting

portions

114b and 115b. As shown in FIG. 3, the first spacer 114 has a supporting portion 114 f that supports the tip portion 113 d of the electrode tab 113 from the side opposite to the bus bar 132.

Referring to FIG. 2, the module case 120 includes an upper pressure plate 121 and a lower pressure plate 122 for vertically pressing the power generating element 111 of each battery 110 of the battery stack 110S, and an upper part of the battery stack 110S in a pressed state. It includes a pair of side plates 123 for fixing the pressure plate 121 and the lower pressure plate 122. The upper pressure plate 121 has a locate hole 121b into which a fastening bolt for fixing the battery module 100 to a pack case (not shown) is inserted. Similarly, the lower pressurizing plate 122 has a locate hole 122b into which a fastening bolt is inserted. The pair of side plates 123 are welded to the upper pressure plate 121 and the lower pressure plate 122. The material for forming the module case 120 is not particularly limited, but can be formed of, for example, stainless steel.

The bus bar unit 130 includes a bus bar 132 that electrically connects the electrode tabs 113 of the batteries 110 that are vertically arranged, a bus bar holder 131 that integrally holds the plurality of bus bars 132, and a protective cover 135 that protects the bus bar 132. Have. The bus bar unit 130 further includes an anode-side terminal 133 that makes the anode-side ends of the plurality of electrically connected batteries 110 face external input/output terminals, and a cathode that makes the cathode-side ends face external input/output terminals. And a side terminal 134.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the bus bar 132 is laser-bonded to the electrode tabs 113 of the stacked batteries 110, a laser oscillator (not shown) irradiates the bus bar 132 with the laser beam L1. The bus bar 132 and the tip portion 113d of the electrode tab 113 are joined by seam welding or spot welding. When laser welding the electrode tab 113 and the bus bar 132, in order to secure high quality welding quality, the position of the electrode tab 113 and the bus bar 132 should be adjusted so that no gap is created between the electrode tab 113 and the bus bar 132. You have to manage your location. If there are variations in the shape of the electrode tab 113 such as the bending angle, the position of the tip portion 113d of the electrode tab 113 may vary in the stacking direction. Therefore, it is necessary to position the battery 110 at the processing position of the electrode tab 113 with high accuracy and improve the processing accuracy of the electrode tab 113.

(Positioning/conveying device 10)
The positioning and conveying device 10 according to the embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the battery 110 before processing the electrode tab 113. 6A is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of the positioning and conveying apparatus 10, FIG. 6B is a side view schematically showing how the battery 110 is placed by the positioning and conveying apparatus 10, and FIG. 6C is a positioning and conveying apparatus 10. It is a top view which shows typically a mode that the battery 110 is conveyed by. FIG. 7A is a side view showing how the position of the reference portion 210 of the electrode tab 113 is detected while the battery 110 is held by the second robot 40. FIG. 7B is a side view showing a cross section of a main part of a state where the position of the reference part 210 of the electrode tab 113 shown in FIG. 7A is detected.

The positioning and transporting device 10 is a device that positions the flat battery 110 (see FIG. 5) before processing the electrode tab 113 on the pallet 20 and transports it to the processing position of the electrode tab 113.

As shown in FIG. 5, the electrode tab 113 has reference portions 210 set at at least two places. The configuration of the reference unit 210 is not particularly limited as long as its position can be specified. The reference part 210 can be formed of, for example, a through hole, a blind hole, a notch, or a stamped mark.

In the example shown in FIG. 5, the reference part 210 of the electrode tab 113 includes a first reference part 211 and a second reference part 212. The first reference portion 211 and the second reference portion 212 are formed from through holes. The first reference portion 211 and the second reference portion 212 are formed on the base end portion 113c of the electrode tab 113. In the following description, the first reference portion 211 is referred to as the first inspection hole 211, and the second reference portion 212 is referred to as the second inspection hole 212. The anode side electrode tab 113A has a first inspection hole 211, and the cathode side electrode tab 113K has a second inspection hole 212. The first inspection hole 211 and the second inspection hole 212 are formed as far apart as possible so that the length of a line segment connecting the center of the first inspection hole 211 and the center of the second inspection hole 212 becomes long. .. This is because the accuracy of the position correction of the battery 110 is improved. With reference to FIG. 5, the first inspection hole 211 is formed near the right end of the anode side electrode tab 113A, and the second inspection hole 212 is formed near the left end of the cathode side electrode tab 113K.

With reference to FIG. 6A, the positioning and transporting device 10 can be summarized as follows: a battery temporary placement unit 11, a pallet 20 on which a battery 110 is placed, and a clamp 21 (corresponding to a holding unit) that holds the battery 110 on the pallet 20. ), a linear conveyor 30 (corresponding to a transfer unit) that transfers the pallet 20, a second robot 40 (corresponding to a mounting robot) that holds the battery 110 and places it on the pallet 20, and an electrode tab 113 of the battery 110. And a detection unit 50 that detects the position of the reference unit 210 set to. The positioning and transporting device 10 further includes a tab posture holding unit 60 that holds the posture of the electrode tab 113, and a control unit 70 that controls the operations of the clamp 21, the linear conveyor 30, the second robot 40, and the detection unit 50. ing.

The control unit 70 holds the battery 110 by the second robot 40, and detects the position of the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 held by the second robot 40 by the detection unit 50. Then, the control unit 70 corrects and positions the position of the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 to the reference position 220 (see FIG. 8A) of the detection unit 50 installed at the preset equipment machine coordinates, and clamps. The battery 110 is held on the pallet 20 by 21 and the pallet 20 is transported by the linear conveyor 30. The details will be described below.

(Battery temporary storage part 11)
The temporary battery holder 11 includes a flat holder 11a for temporarily holding the battery 110, a leveling clamp 11b for clamping the sealing portion 112s of the laminate film 112, and a tab parallel-out clamp 11c for holding the electrode tab 113. Have. The battery 110 is loaded onto the flat stand 11a by the first robot (not shown). The leveling clamp 11b sandwiches the sealing portion 112s of the laminate film 112 and smoothes the deformation of the laminate film 112. As a result, when the battery 110 on the pallet 20 is clamped by the clamp 21, it is less likely that the battery 110 will be misclamped or misaligned due to the clamp, so that the clamping accuracy can be improved.

(Pallet 20)
6A, the pallet 20 has a substantially rectangular plate shape, and the battery 110 is placed on the upper surface thereof. Clamps 21 are provided on two opposing sides of the four sides of the pallet 20. As shown in FIG. 6B, the clamp 21 holds the battery 110 with respect to the pallet 20 by sandwiching the sealing portion 112 s of the laminate film 112 with the upper surface of the pallet 20. As shown in FIG. 6C, the clamp 21 of the present embodiment is provided so as to hold two sides of the rectangular frame-shaped sealing portion 112s that extend in a direction intersecting the transport direction (transverse direction Y). .. The clamp 21 has a function of fixing the positioned position of the battery 110 and preventing the battery 110 from moving relative to the pallet 20.

(Linear conveyor 30)
With reference to FIG. 6C, the linear conveyor 30 moves the slider 31, which is a carrier, along a rail 32 extending in the carrying direction (transverse direction Y). The pallet 20 is fixed to the slider 31, and the pallet 20 can be transported in the transport direction by moving the slider 31. A processing device M for cutting and bending the electrode tab 113 is arranged in the middle of the rail 32 to process the electrode tab 113 of the battery 110 transported in the transport direction.

When the slider 31 moves along the rail 32, an inertial force acts on the battery 110 on the pallet 20 in the carrying direction. In the present embodiment, as described above, the clamp 21 holds the two sides extending in the direction intersecting the transport direction of the sealing portion 112s, so that the battery 110 is prevented from moving relative to the pallet 20. can do.

The slider 31 is driven by a linear motor or the like and conveyed to a processing position on the rail 32. Since the position of the slider 31 in the carrying direction is controlled with high accuracy, the displacement of the pallet 20 is unlikely to occur in the carrying direction.

(Second robot 40)
The second robot 40 is composed of a general industrial robot with reference to FIG. 6A. For example, a horizontal articulated robot (SCARA) in which an arm moves horizontally can be used. The second robot 40 holds the battery 110 carried into the flat placing table 11 a, corrects the posture of the held battery 110, and then places the battery 110 on the pallet 20.

Referring to FIG. 7A, a handling unit 80 for handling the battery 110 is connected to the tip of the robot arm 40a (see FIG. 6A). The handling unit 80 is a top plate 81, a connecting portion 82 arranged on the upper surface side of the top plate 81 and connected to the robot arm 40a, and a lower surface side of the top plate 81 for holding and releasing the battery 110 freely. It has a holding part 83.

The holding portion 83 holds the upper surface side of the main body 110H of the battery 110 at four locations. The holding portion 83 has a main body suction pad 84 for sucking the main body 110H. The main body suction pad 84 has a flexible bellows-shaped cover 84a. The inner space of the cover 84a communicates with a suction device 85 such as a vacuum pump. When the second robot 40 lowers the handling unit 80 toward the battery 110 on the flat table 11a, the lower edge of the cover 84a contacts the upper surface of the main body 110H. When the second robot 40 further lowers the handling unit 80, the cover 84a of the main body suction pad 84 is elastically deformed, and the lower end edge of the cover 84a is pressed against the upper surface of the main body 110H. In this state, the suction device 85 is operated. The main body suction pad 84 sucks the main body 110H by negative pressure. As a result, the upper surface of the main body 110H is suction-held. When the second robot 40 finishes placing the battery 110 on the pallet 20, the operation of the suction device 85 is stopped, and the inside of the main body suction pad 84 is opened to the atmosphere. As a result, the suction holding of the main body 110H is released.

(Detection unit 50)
6B, the detection unit 50 detects the position of the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 held by the second robot 40, and the battery 110 held by the clamp 21. The second detection unit 52 that detects the position of the reference unit 210 of FIG.

The configuration of the detection unit 50 is not particularly limited as long as it can detect the position of the reference unit 210. In the example shown in FIG. 6B, the detection unit 50 is composed of a camera including a CCD image sensor. The detection unit 50 detects the respective positions of the first inspection hole 211 and the second inspection hole 212 by transmitting the captured image data to the control unit 70 and analyzing the image in the control unit 70. In addition, you may have the process part which analyzes the image data which the detection part 50 imaged.

(Tab posture holding unit 60)
7A and 7B, the tab posture holding unit 60 holds the electrode tab 113 when the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 is detected by the detection unit 50. As shown in FIG. 7B, the tab attitude holding portion 60 is configured by a gripping member that grips the tip portion 113d of the electrode tab 113 (the tip side of the reference portion 210).

The electrode tab 113 is relatively rigid. On the other hand, the laminate film 112 that is generally applied to the exterior material has flexibility. Further, the current collecting foil of the power generation element 111 to which the electrode tab 113 is connected is extremely thin, and has a very low rigidity as compared with the electrode tab 113. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7A, when the battery 110 is lifted for handling, the tip portion 113d of the electrode tab 113 hangs down as compared with the main body portion 110H. In such a state, when the reference portion 210 is detected from below, an error occurs as compared with the original position P1 (see FIG. 7B). In order to reduce variations in image position correction, it is necessary to stabilize the posture of the electrode tab 113 during image pickup. Therefore, when the battery 110 is handled and the detection unit 50 detects the position of the reference unit 210, it is necessary to correct the posture of the electrode tab 113.

Therefore, the detection unit 50 detects the position of the reference unit 210 in a state in which the tab posture holding unit 60 holds the electrode tab 113 to correct the posture of the electrode tab 113. By correcting the posture of the electrode tab 113, the position of the reference portion 210 can be accurately detected.

(Control unit 70)
The control unit 70 mainly includes a CPU and a memory, and controls the operations of the linear conveyor 30, the second robot 40, the detection unit 50, the tab posture holding unit 60, and the like. The control unit 70 receives the position data of each of the first inspection hole 211 and the second inspection hole 212 detected by the detection unit 50. The control unit 70 also functions as a processing unit of the detection unit 50. The image data captured by the camera of the detector 50 is input to the controller 70, and the controller 70 detects the positions of the first inspection hole 211 and the second inspection hole 212 by analyzing the image data. The control unit 70 controls the operation of the second robot 40 and corrects the posture of the battery 110 held by the second robot 40 or the clamp 21. The correction is performed so that the respective positions of the first inspection hole 211 and the second inspection hole 212 coincide with the reference position 220 of the detection unit 50 installed at the preset equipment machine coordinates. The control unit 70 controls the operation of the linear conveyor 30 and conveys the pallet 20 on which the posture-corrected battery 110 is placed.

(Battery 110 attitude correction)
The attitude correction of the battery 110 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C. FIG. 8A is an explanatory diagram showing a state before correcting the attitude of the battery 110, FIG. 8B is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the battery 110 is corrected in the XY biaxial directions, and FIG. 8C is a continuation of FIG. 8B. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the battery 110 is rotationally corrected about the Z axis.

As described above, the reference portion 210 of the electrode tab 113 includes the first inspection hole 211 and the second inspection hole 212. The reference position 220 is a first reference position 221 that positions the first inspection hole 211, a second reference position 222 that positions the second inspection hole 212, and a line segment that connects the first reference position 221 and the second reference position 222. It includes a third reference position 223 for positioning the midpoint. The control unit 70 positions the midpoint 213 of the line segment connecting the first inspection hole 211 and the second inspection hole 212 based on the detected center position of the first inspection hole 211 and the detected center position of the second inspection hole 212. Ask for.

As shown in FIG. 8A, the control unit 70 first determines the correction amount x (mm) in the X direction and the correction amount y (mm) in the Y direction required to position the midpoint 213 at the third reference position 223. Ask. Further, it is necessary to position the first inspection hole 211 at the first reference position 221 and the second inspection hole 212 at the second reference position 222 after the middle point 213 is positioned at the third reference position 223. A correction amount θ (degree) in the rotation direction is obtained.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8B, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the second robot 40 and corrects the attitude of the battery 110 held by the second robot 40 in the XY biaxial directions. The correction amount is a correction amount x (mm) in the X direction and a correction amount y (mm) in the Y direction.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8C, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the second robot 40, and rotationally corrects the attitude of the battery 110 held by the second robot 40 about the Z axis. The correction amount is the correction amount θ (degrees).

In this way, the control unit 70 matches the first inspection hole 211, the second inspection hole 212, and the midpoint 213 with the first reference position 221, the second reference position 222, and the third reference position 223, respectively. First, the operation of the second robot 40 is controlled to correct the position of the battery 110.

(Procedure for Positioning and Transferring Battery 110 in Positioning and Transfer Device 10)
Next, the procedure for positioning the battery 110 in the positioning and conveying device 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

In step S101, referring to FIG. 6A, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the first robot, and the battery 110 to be positioned is carried in and temporarily placed on the flat placing table 11a by the first robot.

In step S102, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the leveling clamp 11b of the battery temporary storage unit 11 to sandwich (clamp) the sealing unit 112s of the laminate film 112 on the flat platform 11a, and the deformation of the laminate film 112. Smooth out. Then, the clamping of the battery 110 by the break-in clamp 11b is released (unclamping). As a result, when the battery 110 on the pallet 20 is clamped by the clamp 21 in the subsequent process, it is less likely that the battery 110 will be misclamped or misaligned due to the clamp, so that the clamping accuracy can be improved.

In step S103, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the second robot 40 using the following procedure, and causes the handling unit 80 to adsorb and hold the battery 110 on the flat stand 11a.

First, referring to FIG. 7A, the control unit 70 moves the handling unit 80 at the tip of the robot arm 40a onto the battery 110. Then, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the second robot 40 and lowers the handling unit 80 toward the battery 110 on the carry-in table. As the handling unit 80 descends, the lower end edge of the cover 84a of the main body suction pad 84 contacts the upper surface of the main body 110H. When the handling unit 80 is further lowered, the cover 84a of the main body suction pad 84 is elastically deformed, and the lower end edge of the cover 84a is pressed against the upper surface of the main body 110H. In this state, the control unit 70 operates the suction device 85. The main body suction pad 84 sucks the main body 110H by negative pressure. Through the above procedure, the upper surface of the main body 110H is suction-held by the handling unit 80.

In step S104, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the second robot 40, raises the handling unit 80, and lifts the adsorbed and held battery 110 from the flat stand 11a.

In step S105, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the tab paralleling clamp 11c and holds the electrode tab 113 in a state of being gripped from above and below. As a result, the tab paralleling clamp 11c can correct the deformation and bending of the electrode tab 113 and the attitude of the electrode tab 113, and the attitude of the electrode tab 113 is kept horizontal to the flat table 11a. Be done.

In step S106, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the first detection unit 51, and as shown in FIG. 7B, the first inspection hole 211, the second inspection hole 212, and the electrode tabs around these inspection holes 211 and 212. The image of 113 is captured.

In step S107, the control unit 70 uses the following procedure to determine whether the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 held by the second robot 40 matches the reference position 220. When the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 matches the reference position 220 (step S107: YES), the process proceeds to step S109. When the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 does not match the reference position 220 and the posture of the battery 110 needs to be corrected (step S107: NO), the process proceeds to step S108.

First, the image data captured by the first detection unit 51 is input to the control unit 70, and the control unit 70 analyzes the image data to determine the positions of the first inspection hole 211 and the second inspection hole 212. Ask.

Next, the control unit 70 obtains the correction amount (x, y, θ) of the attitude of the battery 110 with respect to the preset reference position 220 of the battery 110. First, with reference to FIG. 8A, the control unit 70 controls the first inspection hole 211 and the second inspection hole based on the center position of the first inspection hole 211 and the center position of the second inspection hole 212 detected by the detection unit 50. The position of the midpoint 213 of the line segment connecting the hole 212 is obtained.

Next, the control unit 70 obtains the correction amount (x, y, θ) of the attitude of the battery 110. The reference position 220 is a first reference position 221 that positions the first inspection hole 211, a second reference position 222 that positions the second inspection hole 212, and a third reference position 223 that positions the midpoint 213. As shown in FIG. 8A, the control unit 70 obtains a correction amount x (mm) in the X direction and a correction amount y (mm) in the Y direction required to position the midpoint 213 at the third reference position 223. Further, it is necessary to position the first inspection hole 211 at the first reference position 221 and the second inspection hole 212 at the second reference position 222 after the middle point 213 is positioned at the third reference position 223. A correction amount θ (degree) in the rotation direction is obtained.

According to the above procedure, when the correction amount (x, y, θ) of the attitude of the battery 110 is (0, 0, 0), the control unit 70 causes the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 to coincide with the reference position 220. (Step S107: YES). When the correction amount (x, y, θ) is not (0, 0, 0), the control unit 70 determines that the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 does not match the reference position 220 (step S107: NO). ..

In step S108, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the second robot 40 and corrects the attitude of the battery 110 based on the calculated correction amount (x, y, θ) (first correction). As shown in FIG. 8B, the control unit 70 corrects the posture of the battery 110 held by the second robot 40 in the XY biaxial directions. The correction amount is a correction amount x (mm) in the X direction and a correction amount y (mm) in the Y direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 8C, the control unit 70 rotationally corrects the attitude of the battery 110 held by the second robot 40 about the Z axis. The correction amount is the correction amount θ (degrees).

With this, the control unit 70 can correct the posture of the battery 110 and align it with the reference position 220.

In step S109, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the second robot 40 to set the first inspection hole 211, the second inspection hole 212, and the midpoint 213 to the first reference position 221, the second reference position 222, and the second reference position 222, respectively. Then, the battery 110 is placed on the pallet 20 in a state where the battery 110 is aligned with the third reference position 223.

The control unit 70 controls the operation of the clamp 21, and the clamp 21 holds the battery 110. Thereby, the battery 110 can be fixed to the pallet 20 so that the position of the battery 110 transported by the linear conveyor 30 does not shift in the transport direction during transportation.

In step S110, the control unit 70 stops the operation of the suction device 85 and opens the inside of the main body suction pad 84 to the atmosphere. As a result, the suction holding of the main body 110H of the battery 110 by the handling unit 80 is released. The control unit 70 raises the second robot 40 and makes it stand by above the battery 110.

In step S111, the control unit 70 determines whether the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 held by the clamp 21 matches the reference position 220. The control unit 70 controls the operation of the second detection unit 52 and obtains the correction amount (x, y, θ) of the attitude of the battery 110 with respect to the preset reference position 220 of the battery 110. If the correction amount (x, y, θ) of the attitude of the battery 110 is (0, 0, 0), that is, if the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 matches the reference position 220 (step S111: YES), the process is performed. Proceed to step S118. When the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 does not match the reference position 220 and the posture of the battery 110 needs to be corrected (step S111: NO), the process proceeds to step S112.

In step S112, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the second robot 40, lowers the second robot 40, and causes the handling unit 80 to adsorb and hold the battery 110.

In step S113, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the clamp 21 and releases the clamping of the battery 110 (unclamp). After the battery 110 is suction-held by the handling unit 80 in step S109, the holding of the battery 110 by the clamp 21 is released, so that the battery 110 does not become unconstrained. Therefore, the battery 110 can be moved from the position detected in step S108. It is possible to suppress the displacement of the position. The control unit 70 controls the operation of the second robot 40 and raises the battery 110.

In step S114, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the second robot 40 and corrects the attitude of the battery 110 based on the calculated correction amount (x, y, θ) (second correction). As shown in FIG. 8B, the control unit 70 corrects the attitude of the battery 110 held by the second robot 40 in the XY biaxial directions. The correction amount is a correction amount x (mm) in the X direction and a correction amount y (mm) in the Y direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 8C, the control unit 70 rotationally corrects the attitude of the battery 110 held by the second robot 40 about the Z axis. The correction amount is the correction amount θ (degrees).

In step S115, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the second robot 40 and sets the first inspection hole 211, the second inspection hole 212, and the midpoint 213 to the first reference position 221, the second reference position 222, and the second reference position 222, respectively. The battery 110 is placed on the pallet 20 in a state of being aligned with the third reference position 223. Then, the control unit 70 controls the operation of the clamp 21, and the clamp 21 holds the battery 110.

In step S116, the control unit 70 stops the operation of the suction device 85 and opens the inside of the main body suction pad 84 to the atmosphere. As a result, the suction holding of the main body 110H of the battery 110 by the handling unit 80 is released. The control unit 70 raises the second robot 40 and makes it stand by above the battery 110.

In step S117, the control unit 70 determines again whether or not the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 held by the clamp 21 matches the reference position 220. The control unit 70 controls the operation of the second detection unit 52 again to obtain the correction amount (x, y, θ) of the attitude of the battery 110 with respect to the preset reference position 220 of the battery 110. When the correction amount (x, y, θ) of the attitude of the battery 110 is (0, 0, 0), that is, when the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 matches the reference position 220 (step S117: YES), the process is performed. Proceed to step S118. When the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 does not match the reference position 220 and the posture of the battery 110 needs to be corrected (step S117: NO), the process is returned to step S112, and the second correction of steps S112 to S116 is repeated.

In this way, the control unit 70 corrects the position of the battery 110 until the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 matches the reference position 220. As a result, it is possible to transport the pallet 20 and place it at the processing position of the electrode tab 113 while the battery 110 is reliably positioned with respect to the pallet 20. As a result, the positioning accuracy of the battery 110 at the processing position can be secured, and the processing accuracy of the electrode tab 113 can be improved.

In step S118, the control unit 70 controls the operations of the second robot 40 and the linear conveyor 30, retracts the second robot 40, and, as shown in FIG. 6C, the pallet on which the attitude-corrected battery 110 is placed. 20 is conveyed in the conveyance direction. The electrode tab 113 is processed by the processing device M arranged in the middle of the linear conveyor 30. The position where the battery is processed by the processing device M is the processing position of the battery 110.

As described above, the positioning and transporting device 10 of the present embodiment includes the pallet 20 on which the battery 110 is placed, the clamp 21 (holding unit) that holds the battery 110 on the pallet 20, and the linear pallet 20 that transports the pallet 20. A conveyor 30 (conveying unit), a second robot 40 that holds the battery 110 and places it on the pallet 20, a detection unit 50 that detects the position of the reference unit 210 set on the electrode tab 113 of the battery 110, and a control And a section 70. The control unit 70 holds the battery 110 by the second robot 40, detects the position of the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 held by the second robot 40 by the detection unit 50 (first detection unit 51), and The position of the reference portion 210 of the 110 is corrected and positioned by making it coincide with the preset reference position 220 (first correction), the battery 110 is held to the pallet 20 by the clamp 21, and the pallet is held by the linear conveyor 30. 20 is conveyed.

Further, the positioning/conveying method of the present embodiment detects the position of the reference portion 210 set on the electrode tab 113 of the battery 110, and corrects the position of the reference portion 210 to the reference position 220 (first correction). The battery 110 is held on the pallet 20, and the pallet 20 is transported.

According to the above configuration, the position of the reference portion 210 provided on the electrode tab 113 of the battery 110 matches the reference position 220, so that the battery 110 can be positioned with respect to the pallet 20 with high accuracy. As a result of reducing the variation in the position of the battery 110 with respect to the pallet 20, it is possible to carry the battery 110 while maintaining the positioning accuracy with respect to the processing position with high accuracy.

The control unit 70 of the positioning and conveying apparatus 10 controls the operation of the detection unit 50 (second detection unit 52) to further set the position of the reference unit 210 of the battery 110 held by the clamp 21 with respect to the pallet 20. It detects and controls the operation of the second robot 40, and again performs the correction (second correction) for matching the position of the reference portion 210 of the battery 110 with the preset reference position 220 to perform positioning.

In addition, in the positioning and conveying method, after the battery 110 is held on the pallet 20, the position of the reference portion 210 of the electrode tab 113 of the battery 110 is further detected, and the position of the reference portion 210 of the battery 110 is set to a predetermined reference. The correction to match the position 220 (second correction) is performed again to perform positioning.

As described above, after the battery 110 is held on the pallet 20 by the clamp 21, the position of the battery 110 is corrected again, so that the pallet 20 is reliably positioned with respect to the pallet 20. It can be transported and placed at the processing position of the electrode tab 113. As a result, it is possible to carry the battery 110 while maintaining the positioning accuracy with respect to the processing position of the battery 110 with higher accuracy.

Further, the reference portion 210 of the battery 110 includes through holes (first inspection hole 211, second inspection hole 212) provided in at least two places of the electrode tab 113 of the battery 110. With this configuration, the detection unit 50 can reliably identify the position of the reference unit 210 of the battery 110, and thus the battery 110 can be positioned with higher accuracy on the pallet 20.

The positioning and transporting device 10 further includes a tab posture holding unit 60 that holds the posture of the electrode tab 113 of the battery 110. The control unit 70 causes the detection unit 50 to detect the position of the reference portion 210 of the electrode tab 113 while the tab posture holding unit 60 holds the posture of the electrode tab 113. With such a configuration, the attitude (bending, warping, etc.) of the electrode tab 113 can be reliably corrected, and the detected positional accuracy of the reference portion 210 is improved.

The positioning and transporting device 10 further includes a battery temporary storage unit 11 for temporarily storing the battery 110 transported by the second robot 40. The battery temporary storage unit 11 has a leveling clamp 11b that smoothes the deformation of the battery 110 by clamping and unclamping the battery 110. By smoothing the deformation of the battery 110 by the break-in clamp 11b, when the battery 110 on the pallet 20 is clamped by the clamp 21 in a later process, it is difficult for the battery 110 to be misclamped or misaligned due to the clamp so that the clamping accuracy is improved. You can

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be modified as appropriate.

For example, although an embodiment has been shown in which the holding unit that holds the battery on the pallet is configured by a clamp, the present invention is not limited to this as long as it has the function of holding. Similarly, the configuration of the tab posture holding unit is not limited to the above-described embodiment as long as it has a function of holding the posture of the electrode tab. The holding part or the tab attitude holding part may be sucked and held, for example, by vacuum suction from a suction port provided in a block material that supports the pallet or the electrode tab, or may be held on the pallet using magnetic force or static electricity. You may.

Further, the specific processing of detecting the position of the reference portion of the electrode tab by the detection unit and the specific processing of matching the position of the reference portion with each of the reference positions of the detection unit are limited to the above-mentioned example Instead, it may be modified appropriately.

10 Positioning and transporting device,
11 Battery temporary storage,
11a Flat stand,
11b leveling clamp,
11c parallel tab clamp,
20 pallets,
21 Clamp (holding part),
30 Linear conveyor (conveyor),
31 slider,
40 Second robot (placement robot),
40a robot arm,
50 detector,
51 first detector,
52 second detector,
60 tab posture holding unit,
70 control unit,
80 handling units,
81 Top plate,
82 connection,
83 holding part,
84 Suction pad for main body,
84a cover,
85 suction device,
100 battery module,
110 batteries,
110H main body,
110S battery stack,
111 power generation element,
112 laminated film,
113 electrode tab,
113A anode side electrode tab,
113K cathode side electrode tab,
113c base end,
113d tip,
114 first spacer,
115 second spacer,
132 busbars,
210 reference part,
211 first inspection hole (first reference portion),
212 second inspection hole (second reference portion),
213 Midpoint,
220 reference position,
221 first reference position,
222 Second reference position,
223 Third reference position.

Claims

A positioning and transporting device for positioning and transporting a flat battery including an electrode tab,
A pallet for mounting the battery,
A holder for holding the battery against the pallet,
A transport unit for transporting the pallet,
A placement robot that holds the battery and places it on the pallet,
A detection unit for detecting the position of the reference unit set on the electrode tab of the battery;
A control unit that controls the operation of the holding unit, the transfer unit, the placement robot, and the detection unit;
The control unit holds the battery by the placement robot, detects the position of the reference unit of the battery in the state held by the placement robot by the detection unit, and the position of the reference unit of the battery. Is corrected and positioned so as to match the reference position of the detection unit installed at the preset equipment machine coordinates, the battery is held by the holding unit with respect to the pallet, and the pallet is carried by the carrying unit. Positioning and transporting device.
The control unit is
Controlling the operation of the detection unit to further detect the position of the reference unit of the battery held by the holding unit with respect to the pallet;
The positioning/conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the positioning robot is controlled by controlling the operation of the placement robot to perform again the correction for matching the position of the reference portion of the battery with the preset reference position.
The positioning/conveying device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the reference portion of the battery includes through holes provided in at least two positions of the electrode tab of the battery.
Further comprising a tab attitude holding portion for holding the attitude of the electrode tab of the battery,
The control unit detects the position of the reference portion of the electrode tab by the detection unit while the posture of the electrode tab is held by the tab posture holding unit. The positioning and transporting device described.
The battery further includes a battery temporary storage unit for temporarily storing the battery carried by the mounting robot,
The positioning/conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the battery temporary storage unit has a leveling clamp that smoothes the deformation of the battery by clamping and unclamping the battery.
A positioning transfer method for positioning and transferring a flat battery having an electrode tab,
The position of the reference portion set in the electrode tab of the battery is detected by the detection portion,
Positioning is performed by correcting the position of the reference unit to match the reference position of the detection unit installed in equipment machine coordinates,
Holding the battery against a pallet,
A positioning/conveying method for conveying the pallet.
After holding the battery against the pallet, further detecting the position of the reference portion of the battery,
7. The positioning/conveying method according to claim 6, wherein the position of the reference portion of the battery is aligned by performing a correction to match the preset reference position again.
The positioning/conveying method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the reference portion of the battery includes a through hole provided in the electrode tab of the battery.
The positioning/conveying method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the attitude of the electrode tab is held by a tab attitude holding unit when the position of the reference unit is detected.