阅读说明：本技术 具有空气净化功能的用于制造电极组件的装置 (Apparatus for manufacturing electrode assembly having air cleaning function ) 是由 梁诚桓 于 2019-07-09 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种用于制造电极组件的装置,用于通过空气循环去除外来颗粒,所述用于制造电极组件的装置包括：卷绕单元；电极传输线；鼓风机,该鼓风机安装在用于制造电极组件的装置的顶部部分上,并将空气吹送到用于制造电极组件的装置的底部部分；以及出口,该出口用于排出由鼓风机移动到底部部分的空气。(The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly for removing foreign particles by air circulation, the apparatus comprising: a winding unit; an electrode transmission line; a blower installed on a top portion of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly and blowing air to a bottom portion of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly; and an outlet for discharging the air moved to the bottom portion by the blower.)

1. An apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly for removing foreign particles by air circulation, the apparatus comprising:

a winding portion;

an electrode transmission line;

a blower installed on a top portion of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly and blowing air to a bottom portion of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly; and

an outlet for discharging air moved to the bottom portion by the blower.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the blower is installed in a transmission direction of the electrode transmission line.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, with respect to the blower, at least one blower is further installed to overlap the blower in a direction crossing a transmission direction of the electrode transmission line on an upper portion corresponding to the winding portion.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the outlet is mounted below the electrode transmission line.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the outlet is mounted on a lateral bottom end portion of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly.

6. A system for manufacturing and mounting an electrode assembly, wherein the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly according to claim 1 comprises a first apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly and a second apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly, and the first apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly and the second apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly are installed to face each other.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein a first blower for blowing air to the winding portion of the first apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly and a second blower for blowing air to the winding portion of the second apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly are installed to face each other at the front.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein at least one blower is mounted to: the electrode transfer line may overlap the first and second blowers in a direction crossing a transfer direction between the first and second blowers.

9. The system according to claim 6, wherein outlets are installed on respective sides of a space between the first apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly and the second apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly.

Technical Field

This application claims the priority and benefit of korean patent application No.10-2018-0082777, filed on the korean intellectual property office at 17.7.2018, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly having an air cleaning function.

Background

Recently, the price of energy increases and environmental pollution is exacerbated by the depletion of fossil fuels, and the demand for environmentally friendly alternative energy sources is becoming an essential element of future life. Accordingly, research is being conducted on various power generation methods such as nuclear power, solar power, wind power, and tidal power, and there continues to be great interest in power storage devices for more efficiently using the energy generated in this manner.

In addition, as technology develops and the demand for mobile devices and electric vehicles increases, the demand for batteries as an energy source increases significantly, and thus, many studies on batteries for satisfying various demands are currently being conducted. In particular, from the viewpoint of materials, there are high demands for lithium rechargeable batteries (such as lithium ion batteries or lithium ion polymer batteries) having advantages including high energy density, good discharge voltage, and output stability.

Rechargeable batteries are classified according to the structure of an electrode assembly in which a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a separation film disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode are stacked together. Typical electrode assemblies include a jelly-roll type (winding type) electrode assembly and a stacking type electrode assembly, in the jelly-roll type electrode assembly, a long sheet type positive electrode and a negative electrode are wound while a separation film is disposed therebetween, in the stacking type electrode assembly, a plurality of positive and negative electrodes cut into units of a predetermined size are sequentially stacked while a separation film is disposed therebetween, and, most recently, in order to overcome the disadvantages of the jelly-roll type electrode assembly and the stacking type electrode assembly, a stacking/folding type electrode assembly is being developed as an electrode assembly having a superior structure in a mixed form of the jelly-roll type and the stacking type, in the stacking/folding type electrode assembly, unit cells are sequentially wound while being disposed on a separation film, in the unit cell, a positive electrode and a negative electrode having a predetermined size are stacked while a separation film is disposed therebetween.

Among the electrode assemblies, the jelly-roll type electrode assembly has advantages in that it is easy to manufacture and has high energy density per unit weight, and thus it is used as an energy source for various devices ranging from laptop computers to electric vehicles.

Fig. 1 illustrates a front view of a conventional apparatus for manufacturing a jelly roll type electrode assembly. Fig. 2 shows a top plan view of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly of fig. 1.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the cathode electrode 11, the anode electrode 12, and the separation film 13 are wound by the winding portion 14, and thus they are made in a jelly-roll shape. In this case, when foreign particles are input to the surfaces of the cathode electrode 11, the anode electrode 12, and the separation film 13 and then wound together, disadvantages such as a low voltage or a short circuit are generated, and thus the device 10 for manufacturing an electrode assembly operates in a space for closing and sealing the external air.

However, the apparatus 10 for manufacturing an electrode assembly includes various devices such as an electrode transfer line 19, an electrode coalescing unit 15, an electrode cutting unit 16, a power transmitter 17 (shown in fig. 2), and a power source 18 (shown in fig. 2) in addition to the wound portion 14, and the operation of the devices generates various foreign particles. When foreign particles are input into the winding portion 14 and the foreign particles remain on the surfaces of the positive electrode 11, the negative electrode 12, and the separation film 13, the foreign particles are wound together with the positive electrode 11, the negative electrode 12, and the separation film 13, causing problems such as the above-described low voltage and short circuit.

Further, foreign particles generated by the operation of the power transmitter 17 (shown in fig. 2) and the power source 18 (shown in fig. 2) provided on the rear side of the apparatus 10 for manufacturing an electrode assembly pass through the base hole 16 and are input to the winding portion 14. To solve these problems, the following methods may be considered: a blower is installed at the front of the apparatus 10 for manufacturing an electrode assembly, blowing air toward the rear side, thus preventing foreign particles from being input to the front, but in this case, the moving route of a worker is disturbed, and it is difficult to provide materials, and thus it is not desirable to install the blower on the front side of the manufacturing apparatus 10.

Therefore, a technology for fundamentally solving the problems is required.

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art and the technical problems occurring in the past.

The inventors of the present invention have made intensive studies and experiments and confirmed a method of preventing foreign particles from being input to a winding part by installing a blower in the top of an apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly, and installing an outlet in the lateral bottom end portion of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly, thereby completing the present invention.

Technical scheme

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly for removing foreign particles through air circulation, the apparatus comprising: a winding portion; an electrode transmission line; a blower installed on a top portion of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly and blowing air to a bottom portion of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly; and an outlet for discharging the air moved to the bottom portion by the blower.

The blower may be installed in a transmission direction of the electrode transmission line.

With respect to the blower, at least one blower is further installed to overlap the blower in a direction crossing a transmission direction of the electrode transmission line on an upper portion corresponding to the winding portion.

The outlet may be installed below the electrode transmission line.

The outlet may be mounted on a lateral bottom end portion of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a system for manufacturing and mounting an electrode assembly, wherein the means for manufacturing the electrode assembly includes a first means for manufacturing the electrode assembly and a second means for manufacturing the electrode assembly, and the first means for manufacturing the electrode assembly and the second means for manufacturing the electrode assembly are installed to face each other.

The first blower for blowing air to the winding portion of the first apparatus for manufacturing the electrode assembly and the second blower for blowing air to the winding portion of the second apparatus for manufacturing the electrode assembly may be installed to face each other at the front.

The at least one blower may be installed such that the electrode transfer line may overlap the first and second blowers in a direction crossing a transfer direction between the first and second blowers.

The outlets may be installed on respective sides of a space between the first apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly and the second apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly.

Drawings

Fig. 1 illustrates a front view of a conventional apparatus for manufacturing a jelly roll type electrode assembly.

Fig. 2 illustrates a top plan view of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 illustrates a front view of an apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 illustrates a top plan view of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly shown in fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a front view illustrating air flow in the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly shown in fig. 3.

Fig. 6 shows a top plan view of a system for manufacturing and mounting an electrode assembly, in which two units of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly shown in fig. 3 are disposed to face each other.

Fig. 7 shows a top plan view of the exemplary variation of fig. 6.

Fig. 8 shows a top plan view of the exemplary variation of fig. 7.

Detailed Description

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. As those skilled in the art will recognize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

Unless explicitly described to the contrary, the terms "comprise" and variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" will be understood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not the exclusion of any other elements.

Further, in the specification, the term "on a plane" means that the object portion is viewed from the top, and the term "in a front view" means a cross section that is visible from the front to view the object portion.

Fig. 3 illustrates a front view of an apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 illustrates a top plan view of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly shown in fig. 3.

Referring to fig. 3 and 4, the apparatus 100 for manufacturing an electrode assembly includes a winding part 130, an electrode transfer line 140, blowers 101, 102, 103, and 104, and an outlet 120. The blowers 101, 102, 103, and 104 are mounted on the top portion of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly 100, and blow air to the bottom portion of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly 100. The outlet 120 is installed in the lateral bottom end of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly 100, and thus air blown by the blowers 101, 102, 103, and 104 is discharged together with foreign particles. For convenience of description, with respect to the apparatus 100 for spirally winding the electrode assembly, devices such as an electrode fusion unit or an electrode cutter are not shown, but are simplified. Here, with respect to the top and bottom portions of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly 100, a portion of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly 100 that is in contact with the ground side may be referred to as a bottom portion, and a portion corresponding to the bottom portion of the apparatus for manufacturing 100 in a direction opposite to the direction of gravity may be referred to as a top portion.

The blowers 101, 102, 103, and 104 are installed in a direction in which the electrode transfer line 140 is transferred to prevent foreign particles from reaching the electrodes through air blown by the blowers 101, 102, 103, and 104. Further, by disposing the blowers 101, 102, 103, and 104 mainly on the top portion of the apparatus 100 for manufacturing an electrode assembly, which corresponds to the position of the winding portion 130, the cleanliness of the air around the winding portion 130 can be increased. In detail, at least one blower 102 may be additionally disposed such that it may be disposed on the same plane as the blowers 101, 102, 103, and 104, and it may overlap the blower 102 in a direction crossing a direction in which the electrode transfer line 140 is transferred.

Further, the outlet 120 may be installed below the electrode transfer line 140 to prevent foreign particles from being input to the electrode transfer line 140 and the winding portion 130. In particular, it is possible to prevent foreign particles generated by the power transmitter 150 and the power source 160 mounted on the rear side portion of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly 100 from being input to the electrode transmission line 140 and the winding portion 130 through the mounting base hole 180. Here, the rear side of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly 100 may be a side corresponding to the front side of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly 100 when the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly 100 is viewed from the rear side.

Fig. 5 is a front view illustrating the flow of air in the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly shown in fig. 3.

Referring to fig. 3 and 5, arrows show the flow of air. The air blown by the blowers 101, 102, 103, and 104 moves from the top portion of the apparatus 100 for spirally winding the electrode assembly to the bottom portion thereof, and is then discharged to the outlet 120 installed at the lateral bottom end of the apparatus 100 for manufacturing the electrode assembly.

The blower 102 for blowing air toward the winding portion 130 may prevent foreign particles from being input to the winding portion 130 by blowing air at a relatively high flow rate.

The blowers 101, 102, 103, and 104 may blow the dry air by including a moisture control function, and may include a filter function for filtering out foreign particles. In particular, the blowers 101, 102, 103, and 104 may include a wind direction control function so that air blown from the top portion of the apparatus 100 for manufacturing an electrode assembly to the bottom portion thereof may be discharged to the outlet 120. Further, the blowers 101, 102, 103, and 104 include a wind speed control function to prevent foreign particles from being input to a specific portion of the apparatus 100 for manufacturing an electrode assembly by blowing air to the specific portion at a relatively high wind speed. When the blowers 101, 102, 103, and 104 include the above-described functions, these blowers are not particularly limited, and for example, an apparatus fan filter unit may be used.

Fig. 6 shows a top plan view of a system for manufacturing and mounting an electrode assembly, in which two units of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly shown in fig. 4 are disposed to face each other.

Referring to fig. 4 and 6, the system for manufacturing and mounting an electrode assembly includes two apparatuses 100 for manufacturing an electrode assembly, and the two apparatuses 100 for manufacturing an electrode assembly are mounted in the same space to face each other. In this case, the ranges of the blowers 101, 102, 103, and 104 to which the respective units are applied overlap with the space between the two apparatuses 100 for manufacturing an electrode assembly, thereby increasing the air circulation effect. Further, in the space between the two devices 100 for manufacturing an electrode assembly, an operator can simultaneously manage the two devices 100 for manufacturing an electrode assembly, and can effectively use the installation space of the two devices 100 for manufacturing an electrode assembly.

Fig. 7 shows a top plan view of the exemplary variation of fig. 6.

Referring to fig. 3, 6 and 7, with respect to the system 300 for manufacturing and mounting an electrode assembly, the two apparatuses 100 for manufacturing an electrode assembly are installed in the same space to face each other, and the blower 102 for blowing air to the winding portion 130 is installed to face each other at the front. The blowers 102 are additionally installed in the space between the blowers 102 facing each other. In detail, at least one blower 102 may be additionally disposed such that it may be disposed on the same plane as the blowers 101, 102, 103, and 104, and may overlap the blower 102 in a direction crossing a direction in which the electrode transfer line 140 is transferred.

With the above-described structure, the air blown by the blower 102 can be gathered on the winding portion 101, thereby increasing the purity of the air around the winding portion 101.

Fig. 8 shows a top plan view of the exemplary variation of fig. 7.

Referring to fig. 3, 7 and 8, a system 400 for manufacturing and mounting an electrode assembly corresponds to the structure shown in fig. 7 except that an outlet 120 is installed on a corresponding side of a space between units of the two apparatuses for manufacturing an electrode assembly 100. According to the above configuration, the air accumulated on the winding portion 101 can be more quickly discharged through the outlet 120.

In the installation space of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly according to the present invention, the generation level of foreign particles of each diameter was checked.

(example 1)

The apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly shown in fig. 5 was installed in a closed and sealed space, and the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly was continuously operated for one hour while the blower and the outlet were turned on, and the generation level of foreign particles in a radius range within 50 cm in the wound portion was determined. The number of foreign particles with diameters of 0.5 microns, 1 micron, 5 microns, 10 microns and 25 microns was measured. For each diameter, the number of foreign particles was measured a total of six times per minute and their average was found. The number of foreign particles is measured by using a particle counter. The particle counter used in this examination was an aerosol particle counter Lasair III 310B manufactured by PMS.

Comparative example 1

The number of foreign particles was measured under the same conditions as in example 1, except that the apparatus for manufacturing the electrode assembly was continuously operated for one hour while the blower and the outlet were turned off.

Comparative example 2

In the external space, the number of environmental particles was measured at a height of about 1.5 meters from the ground side (corresponding to the height of the wound portion from the ground side). The measurement method thereof is the same as that shown in example 1.

[ Table 1]

The total number of foreign particles in example 1 was about 1/2000, compared to the total number of foreign particles in comparative example 1, and thus it was found that very few foreign particles were generated. In particular, it was found that the number of foreign particles of 0.5 μm generated in example 1 was 1/3300, compared to comparative example 1. The foreign particles of 0.5 micrometers are considered to be the main foreign particles causing short circuits and low voltages in the process for manufacturing the electrode assembly, and it was found that the foreign particles of 0.5 micrometers are effectively removed in the space using the apparatus for manufacturing the electrode assembly according to the present invention.

When the number of foreign particles of 0.5 μm of comparative example 1 was compared with the number of foreign particles of 0.5 μm of comparative example 2, it was found that the number of foreign particles generated by comparative example 1 was about twice as much as that of comparative example 2. They are foreign particles generated during the operation of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly, and it was found from example 1 that the foreign particles were effectively removed when the blower and the outlet according to the present invention were operated.

Those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains will be able to make various applications and modifications within the scope of the present invention.

[ INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY ]

The apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly according to the present invention can prevent foreign particles from being input to the winding portion by purifying air in the installation space of the apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly.