Patent Application
20230327240
The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a pouch of a secondary battery, and more particularly, to an apparatus for manufacturing a pouch of a secondary battery, which is capable of relieving or removing pouch wrinkles occurring when a pouch base material is non-uniformly suctioned during molding of the pouch without an additional device.
In recent years, the price of energy sources increases due to the depletion of fossil fuels, the interest in environmental pollution is amplified, and the demand for eco-friendly alternative energy sources is becoming an indispensable factor for future life. Accordingly, studies on various power generation technologies such as solar power, wind power, and tidal power are continuing, and power storage devices such as batteries for more efficiently using the generated electrical energy are also of great interest.
Furthermore, as technology development and demand for electronic mobile devices and electric vehicles using batteries increase, the demands for batteries as energy sources are rapidly increasing. Thus, many studies on batteries which are capable of meeting various demands have been conducted.
In particular, in terms of materials, there is a high demand for lithium secondary batteries such as lithium ion batteries and lithium ion polymer batteries having advantages such as high energy density, discharge voltage, and output stability.
The secondary batteries are classified into cylindrical batteries and prismatic batteries, in which an electrode assembly is embedded in a cylindrical or prismatic metal can, and pouch-type batteries, in which an electrode assembly is embedded in a pouch-type case made of an aluminum laminate sheet according to shapes of battery cases.
Particularly, the pouch illustrated in
However, when the pouch is molded using the molding die for manufacturing the V-shaped pouch, there is a problem in that pouch wrinkles occurs due to the pouch base material being suctioned non-uniformly at a specific position.
The present invention has been devised to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for manufacturing a pouch of a secondary battery, which is capable of relieving or removing pouch wrinkles occurring when a pouch base material is non-uniformly suctioned during molding of the pouch without an additional device.
An apparatus for manufacturing a pouch of a secondary battery according to the present invention includes: a lower die, in which an accommodation groove for molding a cup part of the pouch is formed in a base surface, on which the pouch is disposed; a punch inserted into the accommodation groove of the lower die to mold the cup part of the pouch; and a stripper provided to press a peripheral portion of the pouch, which is disposed in the periphery of a portion to be molded into the cup part of the pouch by the punch, wherein the stripper and the lower die press and grip upper and lower portions of a peripheral portion of the pouch, respectively, in the state in which the peripheral portion of the pouch is gripped by the stripper and the lower die, the punch is inserted into the accommodation groove to mold the cup part of the pouch, and a friction area, which is an area having surface roughness greater than that of the peripheral portion, is formed on a pressing surface of the lower die or the stripper, which presses the peripheral portion of the pouch.
The friction area may include a first friction area formed on the lower die.
Two accommodation grooves, i.e., a left accommodation groove and a right accommodation groove may be formed in the lower die,
a bridge part configured to the two accommodation grooves to each other may be formed between the left accommodation groove to the right accommodation groove, and
the first friction area may be formed on a bridge part outer area that is an area disposed outside the bridge part on the base surface.
The first friction area may be formed to be spaced a predetermined distance from each of both ends of the bridge part.
The first friction area may be formed to be spaced a distance of 5 mm or more from each of both the ends of the bridge part.
The friction area may include a second friction area formed on the stripper.
Two accommodation grooves, i.e., a left accommodation groove and a right accommodation groove may be formed in the lower die,
a bridge part configured to the two accommodation grooves to each other may be formed between the left accommodation groove to the right accommodation groove, and
the second friction area may be formed on a stripper outer area that is the pressing surface of the stripper, which faces a bridge part outer area that is an area disposed outside the bridge part on the base surface.
The second friction area may be formed to be spaced a predetermined distance from a point of the stripper, which corresponds to each of both the ends of the bridge part.
The second friction area may be formed to be spaced a distance of 5 mm or more from the point of the stripper, which corresponds to each of both the ends of the bridge part.
The friction area may include a first friction area formed on the lower die and a second friction area formed on the stripper.
Two accommodation grooves, i.e., a left accommodation groove and a right accommodation groove may be formed in the lower die,
a bridge part configured to the two accommodation grooves to each other may be formed between the left accommodation groove to the right accommodation groove, and
the first friction area may be formed on a bridge part outer area that is an area disposed outside the bridge part on the base surface, and the second friction area may be formed on a stripper outer area that is the pressing surface of the stripper, which faces the bridge part outer area that is the area disposed outside the bridge part on the base surface.
The first friction area may be formed to be spaced a predetermined distance from each of both ends of the bridge part, and the second friction area may be formed to be spaced a predetermined distance from a point of the stripper, which corresponds to each of both the ends of the bridge part.
The first friction area may be formed to be spaced a distance of 5 mm or more from each of both the ends of the bridge part, and the second friction area may be formed to be spaced a distance of 5 mm or more from the point of the stripper, which corresponds to each of both the ends of the bridge part.
A pressure applied to the peripheral portion of the pouch by the stripper and the lower die on the friction area may be greater 10% to 30% than a reference pressure that is a pressure applied to the peripheral portion of the pouch other than the friction area.
The reference pressure may be 0.3 bars to 0.35 bars.
An apparatus for manufacturing a pouch of a secondary battery according to the present invention includes: a lower die, in which an accommodation groove for molding a cup part of the pouch is formed in a base surface, on which the pouch is disposed; a punch inserted into the accommodation groove of the lower die to mold the cup part of the pouch; and a stripper provided to press a peripheral portion of the pouch, which is disposed in the periphery of a portion to be molded into the cup part of the pouch by the punch, wherein the stripper and the die press and grip upper and lower portions of a peripheral portion of the pouch, respectively, in the state in which the peripheral portion of the pouch is gripped by the stripper and the lower die, the punch is inserted into the accommodation groove to mold the cup part of the pouch, and a friction area, which is an area having surface roughness greater than that of the peripheral portion, is formed on a pressing surface of the lower die or the stripper, which presses the peripheral portion of the pouch, and thus, pouch wrinkles occurring by being non-uniformly suctioned when the pouch is molded may be relieved or removed without an additional device.
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those of ordinary skill in the art can easily carry out the present invention. However, the present invention may be implemented in several different forms and is not limited or restricted by the following examples.
In order to clearly explain the present invention, detailed descriptions of portions that are irrelevant to the description or related known technologies that may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention have been omitted, and in the present specification, reference symbols are added to components in each drawing. In this case, the same or similar reference numerals are assigned to the same or similar elements throughout the specification.
Also, terms or words used in this specification and claims should not be restrictively interpreted as ordinary meanings or dictionary-based meanings, but should be interpreted as meanings and concepts conforming to the scope of the present invention on the basis of the principle that an inventor can properly define the concept of a term to describe and explain his or her invention in the best ways.
Referring to
The lower die 110 may be positioned below to mold the pouch and may have a base surface 114, on which the pouch is disposed, on an upper portion thereof. In addition, the lower die 110 has accommodation grooves 111 and 112 for molding a cup part of the pouch on the base surface 114 on which the pouch is disposed. The punch 150 may be configured to mold the cup part of the pouch while being inserted into the accommodation grooves of the lower die 110. The stripper 130 may be configured to press a peripheral portion of the pouch, which is disposed in the periphery of a portion to be molded into the cup part of the pouch, from an upper side by the punch 150.
The stripper 130 and the lower die 110 may press and grip upper and lower portion of the peripheral portion of the pouch, respectively, and in the state in which the peripheral portion of the pouch is gripped by the stripper 130 and the lower die 110, the punch 150 may be inserted into the accommodation grooves to mold the cup part of the pouch.
In the apparatus 100 for manufacturing the pouch of the secondary battery according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, a friction area, which is an area having surface roughness greater than that of the peripheral portion, may be formed on a pressing surface of the lower die 110 or the stripper 130, which presses the peripheral portion of the pouch.
In this embodiment, the friction area may mean an area having surface rougher roughness than other areas. The lower die 110 may be made of a metal, and in this case, the friction area may mean a rough metal surface. For example, the base surface 114 of the lower die 110 may be polished to be smooth, but only the friction area may not be subjected to the polishing so that the friction area remains as a rougher surface than other areas to form the friction area.
According to the related art, in order to partially increase in gripping pressure at a specific portion, a method for inserting a filler or inserting a spring has been used. However, this method has a problem in inconvenience of providing an additional mechanism, and accumulated use of inserting of the additional mechanism.
On the other hand, the method for forming the friction area on the metal die of the present invention may have the advantage that an additional mechanism such as the filler is not required. In addition, since the method, in which the additional mechanism is not inserted is used, it has an advantage that deformation of the metal (metal die) does not occur.
The V-shaped pouch of the secondary battery may be manufactured through the apparatus 100 for manufacturing the pouch of the secondary battery according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, which has the above-described configuration.
Referring to
Two accommodation grooves, i.e., a left accommodation groove 111 and a right accommodation groove 112 may be formed in the lower die 110. The cup part of the left pouch may be formed through the left accommodation groove 111, and the cup part of the right pouch may be formed through the right accommodation groove 112.
A bridge part 113 connecting the two accommodation grooves to each other may be formed between the left accommodation groove 111 and the right accommodation groove 112. In addition, the first friction area 115 may be formed on an area outside the bridge part 113, which is an area disposed outside the bridge part 113 on the base surface 114.
In the apparatus 100 for manufacturing the pouch of the secondary battery according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, the pouch wrinkles occurring when the pouch base material is non-uniformly suctioned during the molding of the pouch may be relieved or removed without an additional device.
That is, according to the related art, when the roughness on the base surface 114 of the lower die 110 is formed to be the same, a relatively more amount of pouch base material may be suctioned at the end of the bridge part 113 to cause the pouch wrinkles. However, the apparatus 100 for manufacturing the pouch of the secondary battery according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention may have the friction area at a specific area to prevent the pouch from being suctioned into the bridge part 113 so as to be suctioned only as much as necessary, thereby preventing the pouch wrinkles from occurring.
When the pouch is molded while the punch 150 is accommodated in the accommodation grooves, the pouch base material may be suctioned by a predetermined amount as a whole during the molding of the pouch, but a relatively more amount of pouch base material may be suctioned at the end of the bridge part 113 to cause the pouch wrinkles. However, in the apparatus for manufacturing the pouch of the secondary battery according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, those cause and problem may be solved.
In the apparatus 100 for manufacturing the pouch of the secondary battery according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, the first friction area 115 may be formed to be spaced a predetermined distance from each of both ends of the bridge part 113. Particularly, the first friction area 115 may be formed to be spaced a distance of 5 mm or more from each of both the ends of the bridge part 113. That is, a value d1 in
When the value d1, which is the separation distance between the first friction area 115 from each of both the ends of the bridge part 113, is less than 5 mm, the amount of pouch base material, which is capable of being pushed inward, may be insufficient, and thus, the pouch may be broken at the corresponding portion. As a result, a numerical value that is capable of solving all these problems may correspond to a case in which the value d1 is 5 mm or more.
Also, a pressure applied by the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 to the pouch (accurately, the peripheral portion of the pouch) on the first friction area 115 may be a pressure that is greater 10% to 30% than a pressure applied to the pouch (accurately, the peripheral portion of the pouch) by the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 on an area other than the first friction area 115.
Here, if the pressure applied to the pouch by the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 on the area other than the first friction area 115 is referred to as a reference pressure, the reference pressure may be 0.3 bars to 0.35 bars.
In this case, the pressure applied to the pouch by the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 on the first friction area 115 may be 0.33 bars to 0.39 bars when the reference pressure is 0.3 bars.
In addition, when the reference pressure is 0.35 bars, the pressure applied to the pouch by the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 on the first friction area 115 may be 0.385 bars to 0.455 bars.
Embodiment 2 of the present invention is different from Embodiment 1 in that a friction area is formed on the stripper 130 disposed at an upper side.
The contents that are duplicated with Embodiment 1 will be omitted as much as possible, and Embodiment 2 will be described with a focus on the differences. That is, it is obvious that the contents that are not described in Embodiment 2 may be regarded as the contents of Embodiment 1 if necessary.
Referring to
Like Embodiment 1, two accommodation grooves, i.e., a left accommodation groove 111 and a right accommodation groove 112 may be formed in the lower die 110, and a bridge part 113 connecting the two accommodation grooves to each other are may be formed between the left accommodation groove 111 and the right accommodation groove 112.
The second friction area 132 may be formed on a stripper outer area 131 that is a pressing surface of the stripper 130, which faces an outer area of the bridge part 113 that is an area disposed outside the bridge part 113 on the base surface 114. That is, the stripper outer area 131 may be an area facing the area outside the bridge part 113, and the areas outside the stripper outer area 131 and the bridge part 113 may grip upper and lower portions of the pouch (accurately, the peripheral portion of the pouch).
Also, in the apparatus 200 for manufacturing the pouch of the secondary battery according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, the second friction area 132 may be formed to be spaced a predetermined distance from a point of the stripper 130, which corresponds to each of both ends of the bridge part 113. Particularly, the second friction area 132 may be formed to be spaced a distance of 5 mm or more from the point of the stripper 130, which corresponds to each of both the ends of the bridge part 113. That is, a value d2 in
When the value d2, which is the separation distance between the second friction area 132 from the point of the stripper 130, which corresponds to each of both the ends of the bridge part 113, is less than 5 mm, the amount of pouch base material, which is capable of being pushed inward, may be insufficient, and thus, the pouch may be broken at the corresponding portion. As a result, a numerical value that is capable of solving all these problems may correspond to a case in which the value d2 is 5 mm or more.
Also, a pressure applied by the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 to a peripheral portion of the pouch on the first friction area 132 may be a pressure that is greater 10% to 30% than a pressure applied to the peripheral portion of the pouch by the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 on an area other than the first friction area 132.
Here, if the pressure applied to the pouch by the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 on the area other than the second friction area 132 is referred to as a reference pressure, the reference pressure may be 0.3 bars to 0.35 bars.
In this case, the pressure applied to the pouch by the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 on the second friction area 132 may be 0.33 bars to 0.39 bars when the reference pressure is 0.3 bars.
In addition, when the reference pressure is 0.35 bars, the pressure applied to the pouch by the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 on the second friction area 132 may be 0.385 bars to 0.455 bars.
Embodiment 3 of the present invention is different from Embodiments 1 and 2 in that a friction area is formed on each of both a lower die 110 and a stripper 130.
The contents that are duplicated with Embodiments 1 and 2 will be omitted as much as possible, and Embodiment 3 will be described with a focus on the differences. That is, it is obvious that the contents that are not described in Embodiment 3 may be regarded as the contents of Embodiments 1 and 2 if necessary.
Referring to
Specifically, the friction area may include a first friction area 115 formed on the lower die 110 and a second friction area 132 formed on the stripper 130.
The first friction area 115 may be formed on an area outside the bridge part 113, which is an area disposed outside a bridge part 113 on the base surface 114, and the second friction area 132 may be formed on a stripper outer area 131 that is a pressing surface of the stripper 130, which faces the area outside the bridge part 113 on the base surface 114.
The first friction area 115 may be formed to be spaced a predetermined distance from both each of ends of the bridge part 113, and the second friction area 132 may be spaced a predetermined distance from a point of the stripper 130, which corresponds to both the ends of the bridge part 113.
Particularly, the first friction area 115 may be formed to be spaced a distance of 5 mm or more from both each of ends of the bridge part 113, and the second friction area 132 may be spaced a distance of 5 mm or more from a point of the stripper 130, which corresponds to both the ends of the bridge part 113.
Also, a pressure applied by the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 to a peripheral portion of the pouch on the friction area may be a pressure that is greater 10% to 30% than a pressure applied to the peripheral portion of the pouch by the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 on an area other than the friction area.
Here, if the pressure applied to the pouch by the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 on the area other than the friction area is referred to as a reference pressure, the reference pressure may be 0.3 bars to 0.35 bars.
In this case, the pressure applied to the pouch by the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 on the friction area may be 0.33 bars to 0.39 bars when the reference pressure is 0.3 bars.
In addition, when the reference pressure is 0.35 bars, the pressure applied to the pouch by the stripper 130 and the lower die 110 on the friction area may be 0.385 bars to 0.455 bars.
While the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2020-0138674 | Oct 2020 | KR | national |
The present application is a national phase entry under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of the International Application No. PCT/KR2021/014558 filed on Oct. 19, 2021, which claims the benefit of the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0138674, filed on Oct. 23, 2020, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2021/014558 | 10/19/2021 | WO |
