阅读说明：本技术 至少一个箔或膜状物料幅面的坯料到货栈上的连续堆叠 (Continuous stacking of at least one web blank of foil or film-like material onto a stack ) 是由 托尔斯腾·迈 约纳斯·皮尔斯 卢西亚诺·沃尔克·达·西尔瓦 于 2021-03-30 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种用于将至少一个箔或膜状物料幅面的坯料连续堆叠到货栈上的方法,其中连续供给至少一个箔或膜状物料幅面,其中将至少一个箔或膜状物料幅面裁剪成取决于货栈的规格的尺寸以形成坯料,其中由具有多个料斗的连续移动的、特别是旋转的倒仓装置的一个料斗接收坯料,其中在料斗接收后续的坯料之前将已接收的坯料从料斗倒仓到货栈上。本发明还涉及一种用于连续堆叠至少一个箔或膜状物料幅面的坯料的堆叠系统。(The invention relates to a method for continuously stacking blanks of at least one web of foil or film-like material onto a warehouse, wherein the at least one web of foil or film-like material is continuously fed, wherein the at least one web of foil or film-like material is cut to a size that depends on the specifications of the warehouse to form the blanks, wherein the blanks are received by one hopper of a continuously moving, in particular rotating, pouring device having a plurality of hoppers, wherein the received blanks are poured from the hopper onto the warehouse before the hopper receives a subsequent blank. The invention also relates to a stacking system for continuously stacking blanks of at least one web of foil or film-like material.)

1. A method for continuously stacking at least one blank of a web of foil or film-like material on a warehouse (70),

wherein the at least one web (1, 2) of foil or film-like material is fed continuously,

wherein the at least one web (1, 2) of foil or film-like material is cut to a size depending on the specifications of the warehouse (70) to form blanks (1', 2'),

wherein the blanks (1', 2') are received by one hopper (80) of a continuously moving, in particular rotating, pouring device (90) having a plurality of hoppers (80, 81, 82),

wherein received blanks (1', 2') are dumped from the magazine (80) onto the warehouse before the magazine (80) receives a subsequent blank.

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one web (1, 201, 202, 203, 204) of foil or film-like material is fed by means of an unwinding or deflection roller (11, 21, 22, 23, 24).

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one web of foil or film-like material (1, 201, 202, 203, 204) is designed as an isolating foil or electrode foil for a battery cell.

4. Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one web (1) of foil or film-like material is designed as a membrane for a fuel cell.

5. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a plurality of webs (201, 202, 203, 204) of foil or film-like material are fed and cut to a common blank.

6. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a plurality of common blanks (2') cut successively are received into respective hoppers (80, 81, 82) of the pouring device and are poured successively onto the warehouse (70).

7. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a plurality of webs (401, 402, 403, 404, 501, 502, 503) of foil or film-like material are fed and cut into respective individual blanks (401', 402', 403', 404', 501', 502', 503 ').

8. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein respective individual blanks (401', 402', 403', 404', 501', 502', 503') are received into respective hoppers (80, 81, 82) of the pouring device and are successively poured onto the warehouse (70).

9. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein one web of foil or film-like material (401, 402, 403, 404, 501, 502, 503) is conveyed continuously by a respective one of a plurality of unwinding or deflecting rollers (41, 42, 43, 44, 51, 52, 53).

10. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least three webs of foil or film-like material, in particular an anode foil, a separator foil and a cathode foil, are provided.

11. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least four webs of foil or film-like material, in particular a separator foil, an anode foil, a further separator foil and a cathode foil, are provided.

12. A stacking system for continuously stacking blanks of at least one web (1, 2, 401, 402, 403) of foil or film-like material onto a warehouse (70), having:

at least one continuous feeding device, in particular an unwinding or deflection roller (11, 21, 22, 23, 24, 41, 42, 43, 44), for continuously feeding at least one web (1, 2, 401, 402, 403, 404) of foil or film-like material,

at least one cutting device (61, 62, 65, 66, 67, 68) for cutting blanks (1', 2', 401', 402', 403', 404') of the at least one web of foil or film-like material (1, 2) into dimensions that depend on the specifications of the warehouse (70),

a continuously moving pouring device (90) with a plurality of hoppers (80, 81, 82) for receiving the blanks (1', 2', 401', 402', 403', 404') by one of the plurality of hoppers (80), wherein a received blank (1', 2', 401', 402', 403', 404') can be poured from a hopper (80) onto the warehouse before the hopper receives a subsequent blank.

13. Stacking system according to claim 12, wherein the at least one web (1, 2, 401, 402, 403) of foil or film-like material is designed as a separator foil or electrode foil for a cell or as a membrane for a fuel cell.

14. Stacking system according to claim 12 or 13, further having a processing device for producing battery cells from the stacked blanks.

15. Stacking system according to one of claims 12 to 14, having one common cutting device (62) for at least one web of foil or film-like material and/or a plurality of respective cutting devices (61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68) for each web of foil or film-like material.

16. Stacking system according to one of claims 12 to 15, having a plurality of unwinding or deflection rollers (41, 42, 43, 44, 51, 52, 53), wherein a web of foil or film-like material (401, 402, 403, 404, 501, 502, 503) can be conveyed continuously by one of the plurality of unwinding or deflection rollers (41, 42, 43, 44, 51, 52, 53), respectively.

Technical Field

The invention relates to a method and a stacking system for continuously stacking at least one blank of a web of foil or film-like material (Warenbahn) on a warehouse.

Background

In the automotive industry, batteries are the focus of research and development in the area of finding alternatives to traditional internal combustion engines. For the widespread use of electric motors as drive sources in the transportation and logistics field, efficient manufacturing solutions for batteries are required. The battery cell is manufactured using different processes according to the type of the battery. Furthermore, the type of the base battery cell is important here. For example, a stacking (stacking) method is used for the pouch type battery, for example, a separator, an anode, a separator, and a cathode are stacked on one another in an alternating order. Stacking is typically done sequentially and uses a so-called "pick and place" process. Thus, power is limited due to the inertia of the actuators involved (e.g., robotic arms that perform gripping and turning motions). Therefore, the stacking of high quality processes of the cell stack is a bottleneck in cell production.

Alternative manufacturing methods are cylindrical or prismatic winding, which can achieve higher production speeds compared to stacking. However, only limited energy density is available in the battery cell or battery module, and thus conventional winding is generally excluded from the manufacturing process.

During the prismatic winding process, it is disadvantageous that sensitive foils for the battery cells may also be easily damaged. Damage may be primarily due to an excessively small radius during winding, and therefore, the prismatic wound battery may become very hot, or begin to burn, during aging.

By means of a so-called Z-folding process, the separator foil can be folded, for example by means of a gripper, and can thus approximately form a stack. Here, the electrode material is applied beforehand to different sides of the separating foil.

The same challenges exist in the manufacture of fuel cells. Due to the high demands on alternative drive sources, there is also an increasing demand for efficient manufacturing processes. The pick-up and placement process for stacking bipolar plates and membranes therebetween in the production of fuel cells also slows production.

Disclosure of Invention

Against this background, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved manufacturing method for batteries and fuel cells.

The invention relates to a method for continuously stacking at least one blank of a web of foil or film-like material on a stack,

wherein at least one web of foil or film-like material is fed continuously,

wherein at least one web of foil or film-like material is cut to a size depending on the specifications of the warehouse to form a blank,

wherein the stock is received by one hopper of a continuously moving, in particular rotating, pouring device with a plurality of hoppers,

wherein received blanks are dumped from the magazine onto the warehouse before the magazine receives subsequent blanks.

By the proposed method, the advantages of the stacking technique for producing battery cells are combined in an advantageous manner with the advantages of continuous feeding with respect to pick and place movements of a discontinuous feed, compared to the prismatic winding technique. For the production of fuel cells, the stacking technique is also advantageously combined with continuous feeding.

Blanks forming a warehouse for battery units or fuel cells are stacked in succession by using a magazine mechanism having a plurality of magazines and receiving cut portions of the web of material into individual magazines. In this way, high production speeds are advantageously achieved. At the same time, it is possible to manufacture high-quality battery cells and battery modules which are not particularly impaired by the winding or Z-folding process. The clamping process necessary during pick-up and placement is also advantageously eliminated.

The stacking of membranes and bipolar plates by means of a turning device for manufacturing fuel cells is advantageously accelerated compared to a method of picking up and placing all the layers to be stacked.

The emptying device is moved continuously and can be moved here, for example, at variable speeds. For example, the bin dumping device rotates continuously at a variable or constant rotational speed.

For example, the hopper is responsible for receiving the blanks at each movement cycle. For example, during one revolution of the pouring device, the hopper receives blanks in a first position or point in time and pours the blanks onto the warehouse, for example by placing onto the warehouse, in a second position or point in time. By further rotating the pouring device, the hopper returns to the first position and can receive a subsequent blank at the next point in time.

The hopper is designed to receive the blanks and then to dump the blanks onto a warehouse. The feed speed of the material web can be adjusted depending on the number of hoppers provided in the reversing device. The more hoppers, the faster the transport speed, for example by unwinding or deflecting rollers.

2. According to one embodiment, at least one web of foil or film-like material is fed by means of an unwinding or deflection roller.

3. According to one embodiment, at least one of the webs of foil or film-like material is designed as a separator foil or electrode foil for a battery cell. Thus, the different hoppers of the pouring device can be equipped with electrode foil blanks and separator foil blanks so that the electrode foil blanks and separator foil blanks are placed alternately on the warehouse.

4. According to one embodiment, at least one web of foil or film-like material is designed as a membrane for a fuel cell. In the case of a fuel cell, bipolar plates are produced, for example, by hydroforming, and then the bipolar plates are alternately stacked with membrane layers.

5. According to one embodiment, several webs of foil or film-like material are fed and cut to form a common blank. For example, the electrodes and the separating foils are placed one on top of the other in a preceding method step, so that the resulting layered material web represents the starting basis of the blanks that can be stacked by cutting the material web. Thus, a combination of an electrode and a separator foil, in particular a combination of an anode, a separator foil, a cathode and a further separator foil layer, has been continuously supplied, which combination is received in a hopper.

6. According to one embodiment, a plurality of common blanks cut in succession are received into the respective magazines of the transfer device and transferred in succession to the warehouse. By means of a back-off device, the cut individual layer groups are stacked on top of one another and the battery cells are formed on the warehouse by continuously carrying out the above-described method.

7. According to one embodiment, several webs of foil or film-like material are fed and cut to form individual blanks. For example, the cutting is performed at a suitable position in front of the magazine, respectively. For spatial reasons, for example, the cropping can be performed at different distances from the respective memory.

8. According to one embodiment, the respective blanks are received into the respective magazines of the pouring device and are successively poured onto the warehouse. The previously formed series of layers and the individual layers of the battery cells can thus be dumped into the warehouse in the various hoppers of the dumping device by means of one or more webs of supplied material, and the battery cells are thus formed.

9. According to one embodiment, a web of foil or film-like material is conveyed in each case continuously by a respective one of a plurality of unwinding or deflection rollers. Depending on the limit of the unwinding speed, it may be advantageous to fill a plurality of hoppers simultaneously by using a plurality of unwinding or deflection rollers, and thus higher processing speeds may be achieved. For example, a plurality of unwinding or deflecting rollers can be arranged one above the other or one behind the other, in particular vertically or offset.

10. According to one embodiment, at least three webs of foil or film-like material, in particular an anode foil, a separator foil and a cathode foil, are provided. For example, at least three webs of foil or film-like material, in particular an anode foil, a separator foil and a cathode foil, are supplied. For example, respective blanks, which respectively form layers of the battery cells, are prepared individually, and successive magazines of the pouring device are alternately provided with blanks. In particular, the unwinding or deflection roller conveying the separator foil is conveyed at a higher speed so that the separator foil can be received into the hopper after each anode foil or cathode foil.

11. According to one embodiment, at least four webs of foil or film-like material are provided, in particular a separator foil, an anode foil, a further separator foil and a cathode foil. For example, a battery cell is formed on a warehouse by following a cathode or anode foil, in particular on a separator foil, another separator foil on a cathode or anode foil and an anode or cathode foil on another separator foil and continuously repeating the process. Thus, one of the following four battery cell layers is separately conveyed. Each of the successive magazines receives a blank individually, so that a battery unit can be formed on the warehouse by dumping four blanks successively. It is particularly advantageous to continuously feed the respective electrode foils and separator foils, to continuously receive the respective blanks in the magazine and also to continuously place them on the warehouse. Particularly high production speeds can thereby be achieved.

The above-described embodiment can be followed by a step in which the layer formed from the blank on the warehouse is supplied to a further processing device for producing a battery cell as the end product of the production process or for providing a battery module for further production from the battery cell. For example, in subsequent processing steps, further steps of the cell assembly are carried out, such as introduction into a package and filling with electrolyte. This is followed by further steps such as shaping and ageing.

The invention also relates to a stacking system for continuously stacking at least one blank of a web of foil or film-like material onto a stack, having:

at least one continuous feed device, in particular an unwinding or deflection roller, for continuously feeding at least one web of foil or film-like material,

at least one cutting device for cutting the at least one web of foil or film-like material into sizes that depend on the specifications of the warehouse,

a continuously moving upending device having a plurality of bins for receiving a blank by one of the plurality of bins, wherein a received blank can be upended from a bin onto a warehouse before the bin receives a subsequent blank.

The unwinding or deflecting roller may be part of an unwinding system consisting of a plurality of rollers, in particular unwinding and deflecting rollers. A large number of roller pairs is usually involved in order to achieve as precise a guidance of the material web as possible. In addition, the components that should be placed on the warehouse with the means for dumping can also be fed by means such as grippers or, in general, robots.

For example, in the production of fuel cells, the film is continuously fed as a web of material, cut and the blank is fed into a hopper. The bipolar plates are also fed as continuously as possible and are, for example, inserted into the magazine alternately with the membranes or other components. In other embodiments, the bipolar plates can also be placed on the warehouse independently of the upending device and can also be placed on the warehouse alternately with the stock from the magazine.

A conventional cutter, such as a cross cutter or a laser cutter, which matches the characteristics of the foil or film is used as the cutting means.

The warehouse comprises layers of foil or film, for example, which have been cut, and the blanks are received as layers by suitable means after or below the pouring device. In particular, battery cells or fuel cells are thus stacked or formed on a warehouse. In addition to the stacked blank layers, the warehouse also comprises, for example, a housing which ensures that the blanks are superimposed exactly.

In one design, the hoppers are continuously attached to the pouring device, so that the hoppers for receiving the blanks are available at any position of the moving pouring device. For example, not all hoppers of the dumping device are permanently used. For example, adjacent hoppers cannot be filled simultaneously. The more hoppers are provided, the easier it is to receive the blanks to be delivered from the unwinding or deflecting roller. In particular, this advantageously prevents damage to the foil or film.

In particular, the blanks are conveyed to the pouring device by means of a conveying device, such as a conveyor belt, so as to be conveyed directly or placed directly into one of the hoppers. For example, an advantageous implementation is conceivable in which the supplied conveyor belt is inclined at an angle so that the blanks slide into the moving hopper. For example, the blanks can be easily slid off by suitably coating the supplied conveyor belt. For example, the receiving base or surface of the magazine can also be correspondingly coated, so that the insertion of the blank is not damaged. For example, by moving or rotating the pouring device at a determinable speed, a force acts on the blank such that the blank is held in a position or orientation in the hopper, in particular without slipping and thus for example cracking or otherwise being damaged.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the centrifugal force acts on an approximately circular path by the movement of the pouring device, so that the blanks remain on the surface of the magazine receiving them when they are received in the magazine, i.e. before they are poured onto the warehouse. For example, the centrifugal forces acting on the blanks are so great that the blanks are held until they reach the position of the pouring of the warehouse, and then the blanks are detached from the hopper surface when the pouring device reaches a position in which they can be placed on the warehouse.

Other variants are also conceivable in which the blanks are repositioned in the magazine during the movement of the pouring device, for example the change of the support surface of the blanks takes place. For example, the hopper has two generally opposed support surfaces, and the blank is initially placed on one support surface with one side of the blank and changes direction during movement towards the warehouse, and rests on the other support surface with the other side.

The hopper of the pouring device may be particularly referred to as a compartment.

13. According to one embodiment, the web of foil or film-like material is designed as a separator foil or electrode foil for a cell or as a film for a fuel cell.

14. According to one embodiment, the stacking system also has a processing device for producing battery cells from the stacked blanks. In particular, the warehouse filled by the dumping device can be transported to the processing device by subsequent processing steps. The processing device may be designed for manufacturing a battery cell as a final product of a manufacturing process or for manufacturing a battery module that can be further made from the battery cell.

15. According to one embodiment, the stacking system has a common cutting device for at least one web of foil or film-like material and/or a plurality of corresponding cutting devices for each web of foil or film-like material. Depending on the properties of the respective foil or film, it may be advantageous to choose between the following methods: a method of laying films on top of each other as a continuous web and then cutting, and a method of cutting each foil or film separately and then placing the blanks one on top of the other.

16. According to one embodiment, the stacking system has a plurality of unwinding or deflection rollers, by each of which a web of foil or film-like material can be continuously conveyed.

Drawings

The invention is explained in more detail below on the basis of the design with the aid of the drawing.

The figures show:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a stacking system according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of components of a stacking system according to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of components of a stacking system according to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of a stacking system according to a third embodiment of the invention;

fig. 5 shows a schematic view of a stacking system according to a fourth embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

In the drawings, elements that are functionally identical are provided with the same reference numerals, unless otherwise specified.

Fig. 1 shows a stacking system as used in a first embodiment of the invention. A windable foil 1 is provided which is unwound from an unwinding roller 11. In this case, a plurality of supply and deflection rollers are used, in particular in order to ensure a uniform unwinding, for example with a uniform tension profile in the material web. The material web 1 is fed to a cutting device 61. For example, a tensioner unit 100 is provided between the unwinding roller 11 and the cutting device 61, in order to be able to adjust the web tension to a desired value. The blanks 1' are produced successively by the cutting device 61.

The stacking apparatus is used to enable the layers of the battery cell to be stacked. To this end, a foil blank forming the starting basis of the battery cell is applied layer by layer to the warehouse 70. The battery module may be composed of a plurality of battery cells in the subsequent step. In the context of battery assembly, the manufacturing steps using the stacking method and stacking device are carried out, for example, after the electrode manufacturing step in the manufacturing method of the battery and, for example, before the step of placing as a component in a package.

The blank 1' is suitable for the battery to be manufactured. Depending on the battery to be manufactured, a battery having a prescribed size is required. The warehouse is thus designed according to the specifications or type of battery unit and the blank 1' is adapted to these specifications. For example, a square blank is produced. A single blank 1' is placed into one 80 of the plurality of bins 80, 81, 82 of the rotating pouring device 90. The rotating bin dumping device 90 is, for example, a roller provided with a plurality of hoppers. The bins 80, 81, 82 may also be referred to as bins or compartments of the upending device 90 or insertion compartments or left wheel bins.

For example, with the use of the stacking apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, a battery cell composed of an electrode layer and an isolation layer is formed on a warehouse. For example, in addition to the material web 1 described and shown in fig. 1, three further material webs (not shown) are provided, which likewise place further blanks on the warehouse 70 by means of further unwinding rollers, further cutting devices and further reversing devices. For example, in a particularly advantageous embodiment, four transfer devices are provided, each of which transfers blanks in an alternating chronological sequence to the common store 70. For example, four transfer devices are respectively arranged opposite each other in pairs, so that the warehouse is filled with blanks from four sides.

For example, two opposite pouring devices are provided which pour the separator foil blanks onto the warehouse, and two further pouring devices opposite to each other deliver the cathode foil blanks and the anode foil blanks accordingly. In particular, the four transferring devices are designed as star-shaped and symmetrical around the warehouse 70. Depending on the design of the hardware of the respective pouring device, it can be advantageous if they are not formed in a uniform horizontal level, but rather, for example, to pour blanks from different positions or heights onto the warehouse.

For the sake of clarity, three further pouring devices for feeding three further material webs are not shown in fig. 1. A design in which four stacking systems are similarly designed is conceivable, in particular for the arrangement of the deflection rollers or the provided tensioner system and the cutting device. It is also conceivable to design the hardware provided in this way differently depending on the material web to be conveyed. Different trimmers are advantageous, for example, depending on the foil. In particular, two systems for only pouring the isolating foil are constructed in the same way and differ from the other two systems.

According to a second embodiment of the invention, the stacking device is designed such that the material web 2 conveyed by the deflection roller 25 is already a layered material web consisting of four layers, in particular a barrier foil layer, a cathode foil layer, a further barrier foil layer and an anode layer. The deflection roller 25 is in particular a roller pair. The material web consisting of a plurality of layers is then cut into blanks 2' by the cutting device 62. In the area in front of the deflection roller 25, the system is designed to provide four separate unwinding rollers 21, 22, 23, 24, each unwinding four foils 201, 202, 304, respectively. The two separator foils 202, 204 are fed to the deflection roller 25 without further pre-treatment. On the other hand, the two electrode foils 201, 203 have been cut out here and arranged exactly overlapping. The additional trimmers 63, 64 shown have been shown in a greatly simplified manner. It is particularly important to ensure that the electrode blanks cut beforehand by the cutters 63, 64 are exactly superimposed before being fed to the deflection roller 25 or are placed superimposed at a distance from one another by a separating foil or simultaneously enter a so-called laminator formed in the region before the deflection roller 25.

Fig. 3 shows how blanks 2' from one of the bins 80 of the pouring device 90 are placed on the warehouse 70. The warehouse 70 is thus filled with groups of layers fed by the pouring device 90.

According to a third embodiment of the invention, the hopper of the pouring device 90 is alternately filled with electrode blanks and spacer blanks. Fig. 4 shows by way of example a possible arrangement in which four unwinding rollers 41, 42, 43, 44 are provided, each being fed to one of four layers 401, 402, 403, 404 of battery cells. For example, again two separator foils and two electrode foils, i.e. one cathode foil and one anode foil, are provided. Each blank 401', 402', 403', 404' is produced by a respective cutting device 65, 66, 67, 68 and introduced into a separate magazine of the pouring device 90. Thus, the blanks are placed layer by layer on the warehouse 70. A design with three material webs is also conceivable, for example if the insulation material is to be unwound correspondingly faster. The receiving process in the magazine must be coordinated in time with the four blanks 401, 402, 403, 404 so that adjacent filled magazines can back-load these blanks onto the warehouse in the proper order.

In a fourth embodiment, the stacking system is designed such that the blanks are received in different magazines 80, 81, respectively, but the specifications of the pouring device 90 allow for the blanks 501', 502', 503' to be received offset transversely to the direction of movement of the pouring device 90. The supply sections of the warehouse device, which have respective unwinding rollers 51, 52, 53 with the additionally provided assembly according to any of the preceding embodiments, can then advantageously be arranged horizontally next to each other. For stacking the blanks 501', 502', 503' on top of each other on the warehouse 70, for example, the movement of the warehouse 70 can also take place in a direction perpendicular to the pouring device 90. In particular, the warehouse 70 moves in the direction of the axis of rotation of the pouring device. For example, the intermediate web of material 502 is a separator foil, which can thus be placed on the warehouse 70 between each anode foil blank and each cathode foil blank.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in greater detail by design, the invention is not limited to the disclosed examples, and other variations and combinations can be derived by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.