The present invention relates to a conveying device, and more particularly to a conveying device that conveys and accommodates a conveyance object in an accommodation case.
Patent Document 1 (identified below) describes a conventional electrode foil conveying device that conveys a conveyance object. With the conveying device described in Patent Document 1, the uppermost electrode foil among a plurality of electrode foils stacked in a magazine, which is an accommodation case, is sucked and removed from the magazine and is conveyed to a reception stage with a suction head.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-84498.
However, with the conveying device described in Patent Document 1, when the electrode foil is sucked and removed from the magazine with the suction head, an end of the electrode foil can contact an inner side surface of the magazine. Moreover, similarly, when the electrode foil is conveyed and accommodated in the magazine, an end of the electrode foil can contact an inner side surface of the magazine.
Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein address the aforementioned problem. Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a conveying device that prevents a conveyance object from contacting an accommodation case when the conveyance object is conveyed and accommodated in the accommodation case.
In an exemplary aspect, a conveying device of the present invention is provided that conveys and accommodates a conveyance object in an accommodation case. In particular, the conveying device includes a flat plate member including a through-hole; and a first conveying head configured to suck the conveyance object via the through-hole in a state of holding the flat plate member and convey the flat plate member and the conveyance object to the accommodation case. Moreover, the flat plate member is configured in a shape that prevents an end of the conveyance object from abutting an inner side surface of the accommodation case during accommodation into the accommodation case.
In an exemplary aspect, the conveying device can further include a second conveying head configured to hold a top flat plate member accommodated in the accommodation case, suck the conveyance object conveyed together with the flat plate member via the through-hole of the flat plate member, and convey the conveyance object to a predetermined position.
In another exemplary aspect, the first conveying head can be configured to include a suction portion for sucking the conveyance object via the through-hole of the flat plate member and a holding portion for holding the flat plate member.
Moreover, the second conveying head can be configured to include a suction portion for sucking the conveyance object via the through-hole of the flat plate member and a holding portion for holding the flat plate member.
In another exemplary aspect, the holding portion can be configured to suck the flat plat member to hold the flat plate member.
In another exemplary aspect, the flat plate member can be a metal plate.
Moreover, a collection device for collecting the flat plate member can be further included.
In an exemplary aspect, the flat plate member can be a resin film.
In an exemplary aspect, the conveyance object can be an electrode in which an active material layer is formed on a surface of an electrode foil.
In another exemplary aspect, the electrode can be a one-side electrode in which an active material layer is formed only on one side of an electrode foil.
With the conveying device of the exemplary embodiment, it is possible to prevent a conveyance object from contacting an inner side surface of an accommodation case when the conveyance object is conveyed and accommodated in the accommodation case by a first conveying head. That is, a flat plate member is configured in a shape that prevents an end of a conveyance object from abutting an inner side surface of an accommodation case during accommodation into the accommodation case. Therefore, even when the flat plate member contacts the inner side surface of the accommodation case, the flat plate member functions as a protective member to prevent the conveyance object from contacting the inner side surface of the accommodation case.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described below in more detail.
A conveying device of the present invention conveys and accommodates a conveyance object in an accommodation case. An example is described below in which a conveyance object is a one-side electrode in which an active material layer is formed only on one side of an electrode foil. However, it should be appreciated that the conveyance object is not limited to a one-side electrode and can be a two-side electrode in which an active material layer is formed on both sides of an electrode foil or can be an object other than an electrode, according to alternative aspects.
An accommodation case 2 includes a bottom surface 2a and a side surface 2b, and has an open upper portion. In the exemplary aspect, the accommodation case 2 is a case for temporarily accommodating an electrode 1, which is a conveyance object.
For example, in cases where an electrode body of a laminated battery in which only an electrode on an outer side in a stacking direction is a one-side electrode and the other electrodes are a two-side electrode is manufactured, because the number of one-side electrodes required is smaller than the number of two-side electrodes required, in some cases, it is better to temporarily accommodate the one-side electrode in the accommodation case 2 for manufacturing efficiency. In such a case, the conveying device 100 of the present embodiment conveys the one-side electrode to the accommodation case 2, and removes the one-side electrode from the accommodation case 2 and conveys the one-side electrode to a predetermined position as necessary.
The flat plate member 10 is configured in a shape that can prevent an end of the conveyance object from abutting the inner side surface of the accommodation case 2 during accommodation into the accommodation case 2.
In the present embodiment, the flat plate member 10 has a shape one size larger than the electrode 1, which is a conveyance object, in plan view. That is, the flat plate member 10 has such a shape that, when the electrode 1 and the flat plate member 10 are overlapped with each other with their central positions aligned, as illustrated in
The first conveying head 20 includes first suction holes 20a and second suction holes 20b extending through an upper surface 21 and a lower surface 22. In the present embodiment, the second suction holes 20b are provided outside the first suction holes 20a, but the positional relationship between the first suction holes 20a and the second suction holes 20b is not limited thereto. Moreover, four first suction holes 20a and four second suction holes 20b are provided, but the numbers of first suction holes 20a and second suction holes 20b are not limited to four. However, in general, it is preferable that the number of the first suction holes 20a is the same as the number of the through-holes 10a of the flat plate member 10 according to the exemplary embodiment.
The first conveying head 20 is configured to perform suction from the upper surface 21 side to suck a suction object to the lower surface 22 and convey the sucked suction object. However, the first conveying head 20 may be configured to include, for example, a suction pad so as to suck a suction object with the suction pad by means of sucking.
The first suction holes 20a and the second suction holes 20b are connected to a suction device (e.g., providing a vacuum pressure), which is not illustrated. Note that the first suction holes 20a and the second suction holes 20b may be connected to the suction device via a suction hose or may be connected to the suction device via a suction chamber and a suction hose, which are not illustrated. When the first conveying head 20 includes the suction chamber, the suction chamber can be provided, for example, on the upper surface 21.
The first suction holes 20a form a suction portion for sucking the electrode 1, which is a conveyance object. Moreover, the second suction holes 20b form a holding portion for sucking and holding the flat plate member 10.
In the present embodiment, the first conveying head 20, as illustrated in
In order to facilitate alignment between the first suction holes 20a and the through-holes 10a of the flat plate member 10, it is preferable that any one of the diameter of the through-holes 10a of the flat plate member 10 and the diameter of the first suction holes 20a of the first conveying head 20 be larger than the other. In the present embodiment, the diameter of the through-holes 10a of the flat plate member 10 is formed to be larger than the diameter of the first suction holes 20a of the first conveying head 20. However, when the diameter of the through-holes 10a is too large, there is a possibility that the electrode 1 is sucked into the through-hole 10a. Therefore, setting to an appropriate diameter is necessary to prevent the electrode 1 from being sucked into the through-hole 10a.
It is noted that, in the present embodiment, the first suction holes 20a and the second suction holes 20b of the first conveying head 20, and the through-holes 10a of the flat plate member 10 have a circular shape in plan view, but the shape is not limited to circle.
The first conveying head 20, when the sucked flat plate member 10 and electrode 1 are conveyed to the accommodation case 2, stops sucking via the first suction holes 20a and the second suction holes 20b in the accommodation case 2. Thus, the flat plate member 10 and the electrode 1 are positioned and released to be accommodated in the accommodation case 2.
As described above, the first conveying head 20 in a state of sucking and holding the flat plate member 10 sucks the electrode 1 and accommodates the flat plate member 10 and the electrode 1 together in the accommodation case 2. At this time, the flat plate member 10 whose outer circumferential end 10C is positioned outside the outer circumferential end 1C of the electrode 1 functions as a protective member for the outer circumferential end 1C of the electrode 1 relative to the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the electrode 1 from contacting the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2. That is, even when the outer circumferential end 10C of the flat plate member 10 contacts the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2, the outer circumferential end 1C of the electrode 1 positioned inside relative to the outer circumferential end 10C of the flat plate member 10 will not contact the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2.
The first conveying head 20 repeats the aforementioned operation, and the electrode 1 and the flat plate member 10 are alternately stacked in order from the bottom in the accommodation case 2.
That is, the second conveying head 30 includes first suction holes 30a extending through an upper surface 31 and a lower surface 32, and second suction holes 30b extending through the upper surface 31 and the lower surface 32 and positioned outside the first suction holes 30a. The first suction holes 30a form a suction portion for sucking the electrode 1, and the second suction holes 30b form a holding portion that sucks and holds the flat plate member 10. In the present embodiment, four first suction holes 30a and four second suction holes 30b are provided, but the numbers of first suction holes 30a and second suction holes 30b are not limited to four. However, the number of the first suction holes 30a is preferably the same as the number of the through-holes 10a of the flat plate member 10 according to the exemplary aspect.
The second conveying head 30 is also configured to perform sucking from the upper surface 31 side to suck the suction object to the lower surface 32 and convey the sucked suction object. However, the second conveying head 30 may be configured to include, for example, a suction pad so as to suck a suction object with the suction pad by means of sucking.
The second conveying head 30 holds the top flat plate member 10 among a plurality of flat plate members 10 accommodated in the accommodation case 2 and sucks the electrode 1 conveyed together with the held flat plate member 10 to the accommodation case 2 via the through-holes 10a of the held flat plate member 10. Then, the sucked flat plate member 10 and electrode 1 are conveyed to a predetermined position.
Similarly, when the second conveying head 30 removes the flat plate member 10 and the electrode 1 from the accommodation case 2, because the flat plate member 10 functions as a protective member for the outer circumferential end 1C of the electrode 1 relative to the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2, it is possible to prevent the electrode 1 from contacting the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2.
In the present embodiment, the second conveying head 30 conveys the sucked flat plate member 10 and electrode 1 to above an elongated separator material. Then, in a state where suction via the second suction holes 30b continues, suction via the first suction holes 30a is stopped. Thus, the electrode 1 is placed on the elongated separator material and released.
Thereafter, the electrode 1 is press-bonded to the elongated separator material by a pressure bonding device, which is not illustrated, and after pressure bonding, the separator material is cut in a predetermined position around the electrode 1. In general, it should be appreciated that such a one-side electrode stacked on the separator is used for manufacturing of an electrode body of a laminated battery cell. That is, the electrode body of the laminated battery cell has a structure in which a positive electrode and a negative electrode are alternately stacked with the separator interposed therebetween, and a one-side electrode is arranged on an outer side in the stacking direction. That is, an assembly in which the one-side electrode is stacked on the separator, which is manufactured by the aforementioned method, is arranged on an outer side in the stacking direction of the electrode body of the laminated battery cell.
It is also noted that while the electrode 1 is conveyed to above the elongated separator material, cleaning for removing dust or the like attached to the electrode 1 may be performed in an exemplary aspect.
Then, the second conveying head 30 collects the sucked flat plate member 10 to a predetermined collection position. That is, in the present embodiment, the second conveying head 30 functions as a collection device. However, it is noted that apart from the second conveying head 30, a collection device for collecting the flat plate member 10 may be provided. Collection of the flat plate member 10 enables reuse of the flat plate member 10, which has been used once.
It is also noted that while the flat plate member 10 is collected to a predetermined collection position, cleaning for removing a foreign substance or the like attached to the flat plate member 10 may be performed in an exemplary aspect.
In addition, it is noted that the timing of collecting the flat plate member 10 is not limited to the aforementioned timing. For example, the flat plate member 10 may be collected after being placed on the elongated separator material together with the electrode 1. In this case, the second conveying head 30 conveys the flat plate member 10 and the electrode 1 to above the elongated separator material, stops suction through the first suction holes 30a and the second suction holes 30b, and places the flat plate member 10 and the electrode 1 on the elongated separator material. Then, for example, in a state where the flat plate member 10 is placed on the electrode 1, pressure bonding the separator material and the electrode 1 is performed by a pressure bonding device, which is not illustrated, and the flat plate member 10 is collected after pressure bonding.
With the conveying device 100 of the first embodiment, the first conveying head 20 in a state of holding the flat plate member 10 sucks the electrode 1, which is a conveyance object, via the through-holes 10a of the flat plate member 10 and conveys the flat plate member 10 and the electrode 1 to the accommodation case 2. The flat plate member 10 is configured in a shape that prevents the outer circumferential end 1C of the electrode 1 from abutting the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2 during accommodation into the accommodation case 2. With such a configuration, when the electrode 1, which is a conveyance object, is accommodated in the accommodation case 2, it is possible to prevent the electrode 1 from contacting the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2. That is, even when the outer circumferential end 10C of the flat plate member 10 that is accommodated in the accommodation case 2 together contacts the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2, the outer circumferential end 1C of the electrode 1 will not contact the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2.
Moreover, with the conveying device 100 of the first exemplary embodiment, the second conveying head 30 holds the top flat plate member 10 accommodated in the accommodation case 2, sucks the electrode 1 conveyed to the accommodation case 2 together with the held flat plate member 10 via the through-holes 10a of the held flat plate member 10, and conveys the electrode 1 to a predetermined position. Thus, similarly, when the electrode 1 is removed and conveyed from the accommodation case 2, because the flat plate member 10 functions as a protective member, it is possible to prevent the electrode 1 from contacting the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2.
Now, when the electrode 1, which is a conveyance object, is a one-side electrode, due to a residual stress between the electrode foil and the active material layer, in some cases, an end has a shape that is curved toward a side where the active material layer is formed relative to a central portion of the electrode foil. However, with the conveying device 100 of the present embodiment, the electrode 1, which is a one-side electrode, is accommodated in the accommodation case 2 together with the flat plate member 10, such that the flat plate member 10 can serve as a weight and thus be configured to correct the curvature of the one-side electrode.
Moreover, with the conveying device 100 of the present embodiment, the electrode 1, which is a conveyance object, is accommodated in the accommodation case 2 in an aspect in which the electrode 1 and the flat plate member 10 are alternately stacked. Similarly, when the electrode 1 is removed from the accommodation case 2, the electrode 1 is removed together with the flat plate member 10.
Thus, when the electrode 1 is removed from the accommodation case 2, it is possible to prevent the plurality of electrodes 1 from being collectively removed unintentionally. Moreover, the electrodes 1 do not contact each other in the accommodation case 2, and therefore, for example, it is possible to prevent a foreign substance attached to one electrode 1 from being attached also to a different electrode 1, as a result of bringing the foreign substance attached to the one electrode 1 into contact with the different electrode 1.
Moreover, with the conveying device 100 of the first embodiment, the first conveying head 20 includes the first suction holes 20a (e.g., a suction portion) for sucking the electrode 1 via the through-holes 10a of the flat plate member 10 and the second suction holes 20b (e.g., a holding portion) for holding the flat plate member 10. Moreover, the second conveying head 30 includes the first suction holes 30a (the suction portion) for sucking the electrode 1 via the through-holes 10a of the flat plate member 10 and the second suction holes 30b (the holding portion) for holding the flat plate member 10. Thus, it is possible to independently perform holding and separation of the flat plate member 10 and suction and separation of the electrode 1.
In particular, with the conveying device 100 of the first embodiment, the aforementioned holding portion is configured to suck the flat plate member 10 and thus hold the flat plate member 10. Therefore, it is possible to independently perform holding and separation of the flat plate member 10 and suction and separation of the electrode 1 by suction.
Moreover, when the flat plate member 10 is a metal plate, it is possible to unfailingly protect the outer circumferential end 1C of the electrode 1, which is a conveyance object.
Moreover, collecting the used flat plate member 10 enables reuse of the collected flat plate member 10.
In the aforementioned first exemplary embodiment, an example in which a metal plate is used as the flat plate member 10 is described. In the second embodiment, an example in which a resin film is used as the flat plate member 10 is described.
Similarly, in the present embodiment, the flat plate member 10 is configured in a shape that can prevent an end of the conveyance object from abutting the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2 during accommodation into the accommodation case 2. Moreover, the flat plate member 10 is required to have such rigidity that even when contacting the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2, the flat plate member 10 becomes a protective member so as to prevent the conveyance object held together with the flat plate member 10 from contacting the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2.
In the present embodiment, a resin film having such rigidity is used as the flat plate member 10. For example, a PET film can be used as the flat plate member 10. The PET film can have a thickness of, e.g., 0.2 mm to 0.6 mm.
When the resin film is used as the flat plate member 10, similar to the case where the metal plate is used, the through-holes 10a illustrated in
When the resin film is used as the flat plate member 10, the flat plate member 10 that has been used once can be disposed of. Thus, as compared with the case where the flat plate member 10 is collected, cleaned, and then reused, the cleaning process and the collection process can be omitted.
It is noted that the present invention is not limited to the specific features of the exemplary embodiments and various applications and modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention.
Moreover, in the aforementioned embodiment, the conveying device 100 is configured to convey and accommodate the conveyance object in the accommodation case 2, and then remove the conveyance object accommodated in the accommodation case 2 and convey the conveyance object to a predetermined position. However, the conveying device 100 may be configured as a device that conveys and accommodates the conveyance object in the accommodation case. In this case, as a configuration of the conveying device 100, the second conveying head 30 can be omitted.
In the aforementioned embodiment, the first conveying head 20 and the second conveying head 30 are described to suck and hold the flat plate member 10 by suction, but it is noted that the flat plate member 10 may be held through a method other than suction in an alternative aspect. For example, when the flat plate member 10 is a metal plate that is attracted to a magnet, the first conveying head 20 and the second conveying head 30 may include a magnet so as to magnetically hold the flat plate member 10. Moreover, the first conveying head 20 and the second conveying head 30 may be configured to mechanically hold the flat plate member 10, e.g., by holding the flat plate member 10 in a clamping manner.
In the aforementioned embodiment, the first conveying head 20 and the second conveying head 30 are described to have the same structure, but may have different structures in an alternative aspect.
Moreover, it is sufficient that if the flat plate member 10 is configured in a shape that can prevent an end of the conveyance object from abutting the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2 during accommodation into the accommodation case 2, and the shape is not limited to the shape illustrated in
The flat plate member 10 illustrated in
Moreover, it is noted that, as illustrated in
That is, the flat plate member 10 has an end closer to the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case than to an end of the conveyance object closest to the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2 during accommodation into the accommodation case 2. By focusing on the conveyance aspect of the first conveying head 20, it can also be said that the first conveying head 20 conveys the flat plate member 10 and the conveyance object in an aspect that the end of the flat plate member 10 is in a position closer to the inner side surface 2b of the accommodation case 2 than the end of the conveyance object.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2017-157564 | Aug 2017 | JP | national |
The present application is a continuation of PCT/JP2018/030118 filed Aug. 10, 2018, which claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-157564, filed Aug. 17, 2017, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/JP2018/030118 | Aug 2018 | US |
Child | 16750220 | US |