The present disclosure relates to an electrode manufacturing device, and more particularly, to an electrode manufacturing device that can mitigate generation of wrinkles and prevent generation of folds on the non-coating part of the electrode.
With the technology development and increased demand for mobile devices, demand for secondary batteries as energy sources have been rapidly increasing. In particular, a secondary battery has attracted considerable attention as an energy source for power-driven devices, such as an electric bicycle, an electric vehicle, and a hybrid electric vehicle, as well as an energy source for mobile devices, such as a mobile phone, a digital camera, a laptop computer and a wearable device.
In small mobile devices, one, or two, or three battery cells are used per device, while middle or large-sized devices such as vehicles require high power and large capacity. Therefore, a middle or large-sized battery module having a plurality of battery cells electrically connected to one another is used.
Since middle or large-sized battery modules are preferably manufactured with as small a size and weight as possible, a prismatic battery, a pouch-type battery, or the like, which can be stacked with high integration and has a small weight relative to capacity, is mainly used as a battery cell of the middle or large-sized battery modules. Meanwhile, the battery module may include a module frame which is opened in its front and rear surfaces and houses the battery cell stack in the internal space, in order to protect the battery cell stack from external impact, heat or vibration.
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide an electrode manufacturing device that can mitigate generation of wrinkles and prevent generation of folds on the non-coating part of the electrode.
According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided an electrode manufacturing device that applies pressure to an electrode containing a coating part and a non-coating part, the electrode manufacturing device comprising: a first pressure roll that applies pressure to the non-coating part; a second pressure roll that applies pressure to the coating part; and a connection part that penetrates through the center of the first pressure roll and the center of the second pressure roll, respectively, wherein a difference between a radius of the first pressure roll and a radius of the second pressure roll is equal to or smaller than a step difference between the coating part and the non-coating part.
The difference between a radius of the first pressure roll and a radius of the second pressure roll may be more than 50 um and less than 2000 um.
The first pressure roll may extend along an end of the coating part, and the first pressure roll may apply pressure to ends of the non-coating part and the coating part.
The end of the coating part includes a first sliding part whose thickness decreases in a direction toward the non-coating part, and the first pressure roll may include a second sliding part in contact with the first sliding part.
A thickness of the second sliding part may be equal to or smaller than a thickness of the first sliding part.
A thickness of the second sliding part may be equal to or smaller than a thickness of the first sliding part.
The thickness of the second sliding part may be more than 50 um and less than 2000 um.
The first pressure roll and the second pressure roll may be in contact with each other.
A surface in contact with the second pressure roll among the outer surfaces of the first pressure roll and a surface in contact with the first pressure roll among the outer surfaces of the second pressure roll may be respectively coated.
The entire outer surface of the first pressure roll and the entire outer surface of the second pressure roll may be respectively coated.
The electrode manufacturing device may further comprise at least one fixing part that penetrates through each of the first pressure roll and the second pressure roll, wherein the fixing part may be spaced apart from the connection part.
The first pressure roll and the second pressure roll may be each composed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of metal, plastic, rubber, and silicon.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided an electrode manufactured by the above-mentioned electrode manufacturing device.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, provided is an electrode manufacturing device comprising a first pressure roll and a second pressure roll, wherein a difference between a radius of the first pressure roll and a radius of the second pressure roll is equal to or smaller than a step difference between the coating part and the non-coating part, thereby capable of mitigating generation of wrinkles and preventing generation of folds on the non-coating part of the electrode.
The advantage effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and additional other effects which are not mentioned herein should be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.
Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out them. The present disclosure may be modified in various different ways, and is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein.
Portions that are irrelevant to the description will be omitted to clearly describe the present disclosure, and like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the description.
Further, in the drawings, the size and thickness of each element are arbitrarily illustrated for convenience of description, and the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to those illustrated in the drawings. In the drawings, the thickness of layers, regions, etc. are exaggerated for clarity. In the drawings, for convenience of description, the thicknesses of a part and an area are exaggerated.
Further, throughout the description, when a portion is referred to as “including” or “comprising” a certain component, it means that the portion can further include other components, without excluding the other components, unless otherwise stated.
Further, throughout the description, when it is referred to as “planar”, it means when a target portion is viewed from the upper side, and when it is referred to as “cross-sectional”, it means when a target portion is viewed from the side of a cross section cut vertically.
Now, an electrode manufacturing device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.
Referring to
Referring to
In one example, when the electrode 100 is a positive electrode, the coating part 150 may refer to a portion where a positive electrode active material layer is formed on a positive electrode current collector, and the non-coating part 110 may refer to a portion where a positive electrode active material layer is not formed on a positive electrode current collector.
In another example, when the electrode 100 is a negative electrode, the coating part 150 may refer to a portion in which a negative electrode active material layer is formed on a negative electrode current collector, and the non-coating part 110 may refer to a portion where a negative electrode active material layer is not formed on a negative electrode current collector.
Further, in the electrode 100, the coating part 150 may be a portion where an active material layer is formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the electrode current collector, respectively, as shown in
Referring to
However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and in the electrode manufacturing device 1000, one of the first electrode manufacturing device 1001 and the second electrode manufacturing device 1002 is omitted, so that an electrode current collector can be located on one electrode manufacturing device and the electrode current collector can be pressed. At this time, the electrode manufacturing device can press the electrode current collector in the form of a guide roll rather than pressing the electrode current collector from both sides.
In one example, when the coating part 150 of the electrode 100 is a portion where an active material layer is formed on one of the upper and lower surfaces of the electrode current collector, in the electrode manufacturing device 1000, one of the first electrode manufacturing device 1001 and the second electrode manufacturing device 1002 may be omitted.
Next, the electrode manufacturing device 1000 will be mainly described, and both the first electrode manufacturing device 1001 and the second electrode manufacturing device 1002 can be similarly described.
Referring to
Further, the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200 may each have one ring shape as shown in
Thereby, the electrode manufacturing device 1000 according to the present embodiment couples the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200 according to the shape of the electrode 100 (e.g., the position of the non-coating part), which is thus advantageous in that it can be applied flexibly to changes in the shape of the electrode 100.
Referring to
Further, the difference d1 between the radius of the first pressure roll 1100 and the radius of the second pressure roll 1200 may be more than 50 um to less than 2000 um. More specifically, the difference d1 between the radius of the first pressure roll 1100 and the radius of the second pressure roll 1200 may be 100 μm or more and 1000 um or less. In one example, the difference d1 between the radius of the first pressure roll 1100 and the radius of the second pressure roll 1200 may be 300 μm or more and 500 um or less.
Thereby, in the electrode manufacturing device 1000 according to the present embodiment, the difference d1 between the radius of the first pressure roll 1100 and the radius of the second pressure roll 1200 is included within the above range, whereby as the electrode manufacturing device 1000 presses the upper and/or lower parts of the electrode 100, it is possible to mitigate generation of wrinkles of the non-coating part 110 while increasing the stretching of the non-coating part 110, and also preventing generation of folds on the non-coating part 110.
Unlike the same, in the electrode manufacturing device 1000 according to the present embodiment, when the difference d1 between the radius of the first pressure roll 1100 and the radius of the second pressure roll 1200 is 50 um or less, there may be a problem that the degree of stretching of the non-coating part 110 is insufficient, and the non-coating part 110 is folded or wrinkles deepen. Further, in the electrode manufacturing device 1000 according to the present embodiment, when the difference d1 between the radius of the first pressure roll 1100 and the radius of the second pressure roll 1200 is 2000 μm or more, there is a problem that the non-coating part 110 is excessively stretched or wrinkles such as swells deepen.
Specifically, referring to
Further, referring to
More specifically, referring to
Referring to
Thereby, in the electrode manufacturing device 1000 according to the present embodiment, the first pressure roll 1100 includes a second sliding part 1100s corresponding to the first sliding part 150s of the coating part 150, which is thus advantageous in that pressure can be uniformly applied to the coating part 150 and the first sliding part 150s.
Further, the thickness of the second sliding part 1100s may be equal to or smaller than the thickness of the first sliding part 150s. That is, the thickness of the second sliding part 1100s may be more than 50 um and less than 2000 um. More specifically, the thickness of the second sliding part 1100s may be 100 μm or more and 1000 um or less. In one example, the thickness of the second sliding part 1100s may be 300 μm or more and 500 um or less.
Here, the thickness of the second sliding part 1100s can be described similarly to the difference d1 between the radius of the first pressure roll 1100 and the radius of the second pressure roll 1200.
Referring to
Thereby, in the electrode manufacturing device 1000 according to the present embodiment, the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200 can be stably fixed to each other.
Further, referring to
In one example, the fixing part 1600 can be made of a member such as a fixing pin. However, the fixing part can be included in the present disclosure without limitation as long as it is a member that fixes the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200 to each other while penetrating the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200. In a modified embodiment, the fixing part 1600 may also be manufactured in the form of an integral roll without a member such as a fixing pin.
Thereby, in the electrode manufacturing device 1000 according to the present embodiment, the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200 can be more stably fixed while minimizing friction generated between the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200.
Here, a surface in contact with the second pressure roll 1200 among the outer surfaces of the first pressure roll 1100 and a surface in contact with the first pressure roll 1100 among the outer surfaces of the second pressure roll 1200 may be respectively coated. In addition, the entire outer surface of the first pressure roll 1100 and the entire outer surface of the second pressure roll 1200 may be respectively coated.
In one example, some of the outer surfaces of the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200 are coated by at least one coating method of an anodizing coating, a DLC (diamond-like carbon) coating, a hard chromium plating, a silicon coating and a rubber coating. The method can be included in the present embodiment without limitation as long as it is a coating method capable of preventing generation of damages and foreign matters due to friction between the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200.
Thereby, in the electrode manufacturing device 1000 according to the present embodiment, some of the outer surfaces of the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200 are coated by the above-described method, thereby capable of minimizing friction generated between the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200, and preventing generation of damages and foreign matters due to the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200.
Further, the outer surfaces of the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200 may each have a shape considering the position of the non-coating part 110 and the loading amount or pattern of the coating part 150. In one example, the outer surfaces of the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200 may be made in the shape of one of crown, taper, trapezoid, step, recrown, and half-crown, respectively. The outer surfaces of the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200 may be formed in a combination of different shapes. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and any shape capable of pressing the electrode 100 can be included in the present embodiment.
Thereby, in the electrode manufacturing device 1000 of the present embodiment, the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200 can have different shapes depending on the position of the non-coating part 110 and the loading amount or pattern of the coating part 150, so that the degree of pressure and friction applied to the non-coating part 110 can be appropriately adjusted according to the shape of the electrode 100.
Further, the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200 may be made of a material that has considered the position of the non-coating part 110 and the loading amount or pattern of the coating part 150, respectively. In one example, the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200 may each be made of at least one material selected from the group consisting of metal, plastic, rubber, and silicon. In addition, the rubber may be nitrile rubber (HNBR), hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR), and the like, and the silicone may be RTV silicone (room-temperature-vulcanizing silicone). However, the rubber can be included in the present embodiment without limitation as long as it is a material capable of pressing the electrode 100.
Thereby, in the electrode manufacturing device 1000 of the present embodiment, the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200 may have different materials depending on the position of the non-coating part 110 and the loading amount or pattern of the coating part 150, so that the degree of pressure and friction applied to the non-coating part 110 can be appropriately adjusted according to the shape of the electrode 100.
An electrode according to another embodiment of the present disclosure can be manufactured by the electrode manufacturing device as described above. In addition, a plurality of electrodes may be stacked to form an electrode stack, wherein the electrode stack may be mounted in a battery case.
Hereinafter, the contents of the present disclosure will be described with reference to more specific examples. The following examples are for illustrative purposed only and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereby.
An electrode manufacturing device in which a difference d1 between the radius of the first pressure roll 1100 and the radius of the second pressure roll 1200 was 50 um was manufactured.
An electrode manufacturing device in which a difference d1 between the radius of the first pressure roll 1100 and the radius of the second pressure roll 1200 was 400 um was manufactured.
An electrode manufacturing device in which the difference d1 between the radius of the first pressure roll 1100 and the radius of the second pressure roll 1200 was 2000 um was manufactured.
A negative electrode including a coating part in which the negative electrode active material layer was formed on the negative electrode current collector and a non-coating part in which the negative electrode active material layer was not formed were pressed with the electrode manufacturing devices of Examples 1 to 3. The results are shown in
Referring to
Thereby, in the case of the negative electrode, it can be confirmed that when the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200 had a difference d1 between the radius of the first pressure roll 1100 and the radius of the second pressure roll 120 as in the electrode manufacturing device of Example 1, wrinkles of the non-coating part 110 were effectively removed.
A positive electrode including a coating part in which the positive electrode active material layer was formed on the positive electrode current collector and a non-coating part in which the positive electrode active material layer was not formed was pressed with the electrode manufacturing devices of Comparative Example 1 and Example 1. The results are shown in
Referring to
Therefore, in the case of the positive electrode, it can be confirmed that in the electrode manufacturing device 1000, when the first pressure roll 1100 and the second pressure roll 1200 had a difference d1 between the radius of the first pressure roll 1100 and the radius of the second pressure roll 1200 as in the electrode manufacturing device of Example 1, the wrinkles of the non-coating part 110 were effectively removed.
Although preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements can be made by those skilled in the art using the basic concepts of the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims, which also falls within the scope of the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2021-0172789 | Dec 2021 | KR | national |
This application is a national phase entry under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/KR2022/015047 filed on Oct. 6, 2022, which claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0172789 filed on Dec. 6, 2021 with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/KR2022/015047 | 10/6/2022 | WO |