JP7770933B2 - Battery manufacturing equipment and battery manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to battery manufacturing equipment and a battery manufacturing method.

A known conventional battery manufacturing facility and method involves circulating a jig for holding batteries using a transport device.
In such a case, a jig is moved by a circulating conveying device in a process prior to the welding process (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the process prior to the welding process, electrolyte or the like is poured into the battery case, and a lid is placed over the opening on the top surface. Then, in the welding process performed after the process prior to the welding process, the lid is laser welded to the periphery of the opening to seal the battery case.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-122956

In such conventional battery manufacturing equipment and battery manufacturing methods, the number of laser welding machines that perform laser welding on the same manufacturing line can be reduced, thereby suppressing increases in equipment costs and thereby reducing battery manufacturing costs.
However, when laser welding a plurality of welding positions set apart by a single laser welding machine, for example, there are some welding positions where the laser beam does not reach because it is blocked by components such as terminals protruding from the lid. For this reason, further improvement is required to maintain the desired welding quality.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a battery manufacturing facility and a battery manufacturing method that improves productivity while improving welding quality.

The battery manufacturing equipment of the present invention is a battery manufacturing equipment that laser welds multiple components that make up a battery. The manufacturing equipment includes multiple jigs that hold the components, and a transport mechanism that has at least a pair of rails and transports the multiple jigs along the rails. The battery manufacturing equipment also includes a laser welder that is installed between the pair of rails and laser welds the weld areas located between the components. The jig also has an inclined holding portion that holds the components in an inclined position toward the laser welder. The laser welder is characterized in that it keeps the weld areas between the components transported along each of the pair of rails within the laser irradiation range.

The present invention provides battery manufacturing equipment and a battery manufacturing method that improves productivity while maintaining good welding quality.

1 is a top view illustrating the overall configuration of a battery manufacturing facility and a battery manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a secondary battery manufactured in a battery manufacturing facility according to an embodiment. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the configuration of a jig having a pair of tilted holding portions on both sides that tilt and hold a secondary battery in the battery manufacturing facility of the first embodiment. FIG. 3A to 3C are schematic top views illustrating a welding sequence in the manufacturing method of the battery according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic end view illustrating the positional relationship between a laser welder and a welding portion in a battery manufacturing method. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the manufacturing process of the battery according to the first embodiment in the order of the progress of the jig. 10 is a perspective view illustrating the configuration of a jig in which a holder portion for holding a secondary battery at an angle is provided on a horizontal inclined holding portion in a battery manufacturing facility of the second embodiment. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the jig of the second embodiment taken along the line VIII-VIII in FIG. 7.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a battery manufacturing system and a battery manufacturing method of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same components are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.
1 to 6 show a battery manufacturing facility 10 and manufacturing method according to a first basic embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Figure 1, the manufacturing equipment 10 has a rail section arranged in a circumferential manner and a conveying mechanism 17 that circulates and conveys multiple jigs 6 holding secondary batteries (batteries) 1 along the rail section. The conveying mechanism 17 of embodiment 1 can convey each jig 6 individually along the rail section, which has first to fourth rails 11 to 14 connected in a circular pattern.

[Battery configuration]
The battery manufactured by the manufacturing equipment 10 of the first embodiment is a secondary battery 1 as shown in Fig. 2. The secondary battery 1 includes a cylindrical battery case 2 with a bottom, battery components such as an electrode assembly in which a positive electrode and a negative electrode are stacked with a separator interposed therebetween and housed inside the battery case 2, and a lid 3 that covers an opening 4 formed on the top surface of the battery case 2.
In the first embodiment, the battery case 2 and the lid 3 are laser-welded components. However, this is not limiting, and for example, the lid 3 and the electrodes (or a pair of + and − terminals constituting the electrodes) 3 a laser-welded to the lid 3 may also be components.
The lid 3 is formed in a generally rectangular plate shape in a plan view. The lid 3 has a pair of electrodes 3 a, 3 a (described later) spaced a predetermined distance apart in the longitudinal direction. A welding path 5 is formed around the entire periphery of the lid 3 and the periphery of the opening 4.

In the first embodiment, laser welding is performed along a welding path 5, which serves as the welded portion. The outer periphery of the lid 3 is laser welded to the entire inner periphery of the opening 4 on the top surface of the battery case 2. This closes the opening 4 with the lid 3, sealing the secondary battery 1 with battery components, such as an electrode assembly consisting of a positive electrode and a negative electrode stacked with a separator in between, housed inside the battery case 2.

[jig]
The manufacturing facility 10 has a plurality of jigs 6 for holding the battery cases 2 or lids 3 as components of the secondary batteries 1 .
As shown in FIG. 3, each jig 6 has a circulation jig 7 and inclined holders 9, 9 arranged on both the left and right sides of the circulation jig 7 to hold the battery cases 2, 2, respectively.

Of these, the inclined holding portions 9, 9 are integrally protruded and fixed from the left and right sides of the circulation jig 7, respectively, with their side edges tilted downward toward the outside at a predetermined angle α (for example, α = approximately 15 degrees).
Each of the inclined holding portions 9, 9 is provided with a concave holder portion 8, 8. The holder portion 8 can retract the battery case 2 to a predetermined height position and hold the battery case 2 at the predetermined height position.
The battery case 2 is tilted at a predetermined angle α relative to the upper surface of the circulation jig 7, and is held so that the lid 3 is positioned at approximately the same height as the upper surface of the tilted holding portion 9. Therefore, the welding area between the outer peripheral edge of the lid 3 and the opening 4 is positioned in an inclined state so as to face the laser welder 15. Therefore, the laser beam from the laser welder 15 is irradiated approximately vertically onto the welding area. This allows each location of the welding area to be laser-welded approximately evenly.

[Holder part]
As shown in FIG. 3, the tilted holding portion 9 of the first embodiment has a holder portion 8 that holds the battery case 2 or the lid body 3 in an inclined state.
The holder portion 8 is provided with a pair of holding pieces in the width direction of the jig 6. At least one of the holding pieces is formed to be movable in a direction toward and away from the other opposing holding piece.
For example, the pair of holding pieces of the holder part 8 is widened to insert the battery case 2 or the lid body 3 between the holding pieces. Then, the holder part 8 moves the opposing holding pieces in a direction approaching each other, so that each holding piece abuts against both side surfaces of the lid body 3 from the width direction.
As a result, the battery case 2 or the lid 3 is held at a desired position within the holder portion 8 by being clamped from both sides by the holding pieces.

2 is known in which the widthwise outer dimension of the lid 3 is set to be equal to or slightly smaller than the widthwise outer dimension of the battery case 2. For this reason, the holder portion 8 of the first embodiment can be adapted to the widthwise outer dimension of the battery case 2 or the lid 3 by changing the amount of movement between the opposing holding pieces in the approaching direction.
In this way, in the first embodiment, components having different sizes and shapes can be clamped and held from both sides using the same holder portion 8. Therefore, the jig 6 having the holder portion 8 can be used as a common piece of equipment, and an increase in equipment costs can be suppressed.

[Rail section]
The rail portion of the first embodiment shown in Fig. 1 is connected circumferentially and includes at least one pair of first and second rails 11 and 12, and third and fourth rails 13 and 14 that are disposed substantially perpendicular to the first and second rails 11 and 12.

Of these, the first rail 11 has an input standby stage 30 that transports the waiting jig 6 in the R direction along the first rail 11. The first rail 11 also has a battery mounting stage 40 and a height measurement adjustment stage 50 at predetermined intervals in this order in the R direction along which the jig 6 is transported from the input standby stage 30.
The second rail 12 transports the jig 6 in the L direction along the second rail 12. The second rail 12 has a battery removal stage 60 and a cleaning stage 70 arranged at predetermined intervals in sequence in the L direction in which the jig 6 is transported.
In the first embodiment, the first rail 11 and the second rail 12 are arranged parallel to each other with a predetermined gap between them. The L direction in which the second rail 12 transports the jig 6 is set to be 180 degrees opposite to the R direction in which the first rail 11 transports the jig 6.

Furthermore, the third rail 13 transports the jig 6 carrying the battery in the W direction from the end 11 a of the first rail 11 to the start 12 a of the second rail 12 .
Additionally, fourth rail 14 transports jig 6 without a battery in the WR direction from end 12b of second rail 12 toward start 11b of first rail 11, returning it to loading standby stage 30. The WR direction in which fourth rail 14 transports jig 6 is set to be 180 degrees opposite to the W direction in which third rail 13 transports jig 6.

[Laser welding stage]
The manufacturing equipment 10 of the first embodiment has a welding stage 16 located in the approximate middle between the first rail 11 and the second rail 12, close to the third rail 13. The welding stage 16 is equipped with a laser welder 15, which will be described later. The laser welder 15 is configured to be able to laser weld a welding portion located within a certain laser irradiation range S.

3, the transport mechanism 17 has a plurality of sliders 17a with their generally U-shaped sliding surfaces facing each other and straddling the upper surfaces of the first rail 11 to the fourth rail 14. The sliders 17a each support the jig 6 from below, and are transported with their sliding surfaces in sliding contact with the longitudinal direction of each of the first rail 11 to the fourth rail 14, circulating each jig 6 individually.
Furthermore, the transport mechanism 17 transports the jig 6 along the first rail 11 or the second rail 12. Then, when the battery reaches the scan area of the welding stage 16 shown in FIG. 1 , the transport mechanism 17 temporarily stops the jig 6 on the first rail 11 or the second rail 12.
This allows the laser welder 15 provided on the welding stage 16 to perform laser welding while keeping the welding area located between the battery components within the laser irradiation range S.

The transport mechanism 17 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 transports the jig 6 to each of the loading standby stage 30 , the battery loading stage 40 , the measurement and adjustment stage 50 , the battery unloading stage 60 , and the cleaning stage 70 .
The transport mechanism 17 returns the jig 6 to the loading standby stage 30 by circulation via the loading standby stage 30, the battery mounting stage 40, the measurement and adjustment stage 50, the battery removal stage 60, and the cleaning stage 70. When the jig 6 reaches each loading standby stage 30, the transport mechanism 17 can temporarily stop the jig 6 at any point on each of the first rail 11 to the fourth rail 14.

[Folding mechanism]
1 , a battery manufacturing facility of embodiment 1 is provided with a turn-back section 20 between a terminal end 11a of first rail 11 in conveying direction R of jig 6 and a starting end 12a of second rail 12 in conveying direction L of jig 6. A third rail 13 is provided in turn-back section 20 so as to be substantially perpendicular to two connection sections between terminal end 11a of first rail 11 and starting end 12a of second rail 12. This allows third rail 13 to continue conveying jig 6 conveyed from first rail 11 to second rail 12.

Furthermore, a turn-back section 20R is provided between the end 12b of the second rail 12 and the start 11b of the first rail 11. A fourth rail 14 is provided at the turn-back section 20R, so as to intersect approximately perpendicularly at two connection points between the end 12b of the second rail 12 and the start 11b of the first rail 11. This allows the fourth rail 14 to continuously transport multiple jigs 6 that do not have secondary batteries 1 mounted from the second rail 12 to the first rail 11 and return them to the loading standby stage 30.

These folding sections 20, 20R each have a folding mechanism. When folding the jig 6, the folding mechanism can fold the jig 6 between the first rail 11 and the second rail 12 while maintaining the same direction, i.e., without changing the orientation of the jig 6.

The turning mechanism of the first embodiment has a vertical rotation shaft (not shown) at approximately the center of the slider 17a that moves on each of the first rail 11 to the fourth rail 14 shown in FIG.
The rotation shaft of slider 17 rotatably supports jig 6 from below. Jig 6 detachably holds the components of the battery being manufactured. When slider 17 a reaches each connection portion where first rail 11 to fourth rail 14 intersect at right angles, the folding mechanism rotates jig 6 90 degrees relative to slider 17 a around the vertical rotation shaft as the rotation center.

In the first embodiment, the turning-back portion 20 is connected between the first rail 11 and the third rail 13, and between the third rail 13 and the second rail 12, in traveling directions that differ by 90 degrees.
When the conveying mechanism 17 moves the jig 6 from the first rail 11 to the third rail 13, if the orientation of the slider 17a rotates 90 degrees, the turning mechanism rotates the jig 6 by 90 degrees in the direction opposite (clockwise in FIG. 1 ) to the rotation direction of the slider 17a (counterclockwise in FIG. 1 ). Also, when the conveying mechanism 17 moves the jig 6 from the third rail 13 to the second rail 12, if the orientation of the slider 17a rotates 90 degrees, the turning mechanism rotates the jig 6 by 90 degrees in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the slider 17a. Therefore, the turning mechanism moves the jig 6 from the first rail to the second rail at the turning portion 20 while maintaining the orientation of the jig 6 in the same direction.
Turn-back section 20R connects second rail 12 and fourth rail 14, and fourth rail 14 and first rail 11, in directions that differ by 90 degrees. At the connection points of the rails, transport mechanism 17 can move jig 6 from second rail 12 to first rail 11 at turn-back section 20R while maintaining the direction of jig 6 in the same direction, just like turn-back section 20.

That is, the transport mechanism 17 of the first embodiment moves the jig 6 between the first rail 11 and the second rail 12 by passing the second rail 12 or the fourth rail 14 .
The turning mechanism rotates the jig 6 by 180 degrees in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the slider 17a at each of the turning portions 20, 20R.
This allows the jig 6 to transport the battery along each of the first rail 11 to the fourth rail 14 while maintaining the same direction even when moving between the first rail 11 and the second rail 12, whose transport directions R and L differ by 180 degrees.

[Laser irradiation range]
As shown in FIG. 4 , the laser welder 15 of the first embodiment is provided between a pair of first rail 11 and second rail 12 and adjacent to the third rail 13 .
5, the laser welding machine 15 is disposed above the laser irradiation range S and has a galvanometer scanner mechanism consisting of a galvanometer scanner as a scanning means. This enables the laser welding machine 15 to scan a certain scan area by scanning the irradiated laser light with the galvanometer scanner at high precision and high speed.

The scan area is set so that welding areas A and B of the inner battery case 2 transported along each of the pair of first and second rails 11 and 12 fall within the laser irradiation range S. For ease of understanding, the laser welding machine 15 of embodiment 1 will be described assuming that the range of the scan area is approximately the same as the laser irradiation range S.

In some cases, the components include a cover 3 that closes the opening 4 of the battery case 2 and each electrode (or each + and - terminal that makes up the electrode) 3a that is laser welded to the cover 3. In this case, a weld area corresponding to the welding path 5 in embodiment 1 is set between the periphery of the upper opening of the terminal hole through which the terminal portion of the electrode 3a is inserted and the outer periphery of each electrode 3a that protrudes from the cover 3. The laser welder 15 can then laser weld these set weld areas into the desired shape.

Next, the manufacturing process of the battery of the first embodiment will be described in the order of the flowchart in FIG. 6 with reference to FIGS.
In the battery manufacturing method of the first embodiment, the jig 6 shown in FIG. 1 is transported along the first rail 11 from the loading standby stage 30 to the battery mounting stage 40 .
On the battery mounting stage 40, a plurality of battery cases 2 having welding portions are held by jigs 6 (case holding step: S1).
3, the jig 6 has inclined holding portions 9, 9 integrally formed on the left and right sides of the circulation jig 7. The inclined holding portions 9, 9 are fixed to the circulation jig 7 with their side edges lowered outward at a predetermined angle α (for example, α = approximately 15 degrees).
Therefore, each of the inclined holding portions 9, 9 is recessed into the concave holder portions 8, 8 to a predetermined height position, and the battery case 2 is sandwiched between the pair of holding pieces. The battery case 2 is held at a predetermined inclination angle α due to the inclination of the upper surface of the inclined holding portion 9.
The lid 3 is also assembled to close the opening 4 (see FIG. 2 ) of the battery case 2. This defines a circular welding path 5 as a welding portion between the outer peripheral edge of the lid 3 and the periphery of the opening 4.

Then, the jig 6 holding the components of each battery is conveyed in the opposite conveying directions L and R along a pair of parallel first rails 11 or second rails 12 (conveying step: S2).
In the transport step, the transport mechanism 17 transports the jig 6 waiting on the loading standby stage 30 in the R direction along the first rail 11 .

At the battery mounting stage 40, the battery case 2 constituting the secondary battery 1 is inserted and held in each of the holder portions 8, 8 of the inclined holding portions 9, 9 of the carried-in jig 6. In the battery mounting stage 40 of embodiment 1, battery components such as an electrode assembly consisting of a positive electrode and a negative electrode stacked with a separator interposed therebetween are inserted into the battery case 2, and the lid 3 is placed over the opening 4 on the top surface.

When the jig 6 is transported to the height measurement adjustment stage 50, the height position of the welding path 5, which serves as the welding area formed circumferentially mainly along the inner periphery of the opening 4, is adjusted. This height adjustment is performed prior to the laser welding process, thereby improving welding quality and welding speed.

Next, the battery case 2 is sealed using a laser welder 15 on the welding stage 16 (laser welding step A: S3). That is, the welding area A is laser-welded using the laser welder 15 disposed between the first rail 11 and the second rail 12 shown in FIG. 4. In the manufacturing equipment 10 of the first embodiment, the welding areas A and B of each secondary battery 1 are located within the laser irradiation range S.
As shown in FIG. 5 , the jig 6 transported by a pair of first and second rails 11 and 12 has an inclined holding portion 9 for holding the battery case 2 , which is provided at an angle so as to be integral with the circulation jig 7 .
The battery case 2 held by the holder part 8 on the inner side (the laser welding machine 15 side) of the inclined holding part 9 has the welding path 5 set on the top surface side of the case tilted inward at a predetermined angle α in accordance with the inclination of the inclined holding part 9.

First, the jigs 6d to 6f move along the first rail 11 on one side, and the welding area A of the battery they hold falls within the laser irradiation range S. Next, the lids 3 are laser welded to the top surfaces of the battery cases 2 shown in Figure 2 along the welding paths 5.
When laser welding is performed within the laser irradiation range S, the welding path 5 faces the irradiation port of the laser welder 15. Therefore, the laser light emitted from the laser welder 15 is uniformly irradiated almost perpendicularly onto the welding path 5 of the tilted battery case 2 to perform laser welding. Therefore, the battery manufacturing equipment 10 of embodiment 1 can improve productivity while maintaining good welding quality.

Furthermore, at the folding section 20 shown in Figure 1, the jig 6 is moved between the first rail 11 and the second rail 12 while maintaining the same orientation and without rotating, to circulate the battery case 2 (folding process: S4).

For example, even if the conveying direction L of the second rail 12 is 180 degrees opposite to the conveying direction R of the first rail 11, the direction of each of the jigs 6a to 6c is maintained in the same direction as the direction of each of the jigs 6d to 6f being conveyed on the first rail 11.
Each of the jigs 6a to 6c fits a welding area B on the periphery of the opening formed in the battery case 2 of the secondary battery 1 that it holds within the laser irradiation range S. Then, the lid body 3 is laser welded on each side to the top surface of the battery case 2, which is arranged at an angle, along the welding path 5 (laser welding step B: S5).

Then, the secondary battery 1, whose battery case 2 is sealed by the lid 3, is ejected at the battery ejection stage 60 (battery ejection step: S6).
The jig 6 whose holder portion 8 is now empty is cleaned on the cleaning stage 70 (cleaning step: S7). The cleaned jig 6 is folded back at the connecting portion of the fourth rail 14 by the folding back unit 20R, which has a folding back mechanism with a structure substantially similar to that of the third rail 13 (folding back step: S8). As a result, the jig 6 whose holder portion 8 is now empty can return from the cleaning stage 70 to the loading standby stage 30 and repeat the circulation along the rail.

4 , in the battery manufacturing equipment 10 of the first embodiment, a laser welder 15 is provided sandwiching a pair of first and second rails 11 and 12. The secondary batteries 1 are held in an inwardly tilted state by jigs 6 that are transported along the pair of first and second rails 11 and 12 provided on both sides of the laser welder 15.
Therefore, in the laser welding process, the laser beam is irradiated obliquely from a laser welder 15 directly facing the welding points A and B between the components of the secondary battery 1 shown in Figure 5, almost vertically as if from directly above.
In the manufacturing equipment 10 of the first embodiment, the laser beam from the laser welder 15 is applied almost uniformly along the welding path 5 between the periphery of the opening of the battery case 2 and the outer periphery of the lid 3 of the secondary battery 1 shown in Fig. 2. Therefore, the manufacturing equipment 10 of the first embodiment can achieve good welding quality, similar to that of a manufacturing equipment in which the laser welder 15 is located directly above the welding location.

In the laser welding process of the first embodiment, the battery cases 2 transported to both sides of the laser welder 15 are alternately welded side by side.
For example, on the second rail 12, when laser welding of the secondary battery 1 on jig 6a is completed, jig 6a is moved from the scan area in the conveying direction L to the left in the drawing. At this time, jigs 6b and 6c also move in the conveying direction L to the left in the drawing along the second rail 12 toward the next stage or the like.
Meanwhile, on the first rail 11, the secondary battery 1 on jig 6e has already moved from the previous process in the transport direction R to the right in the figure and arrived within the scan area (see welding location A in Figure 4). This allows the laser welder 15 to continuously irradiate the secondary batteries 1 held by the jigs 6a and 6e located within the laser irradiation range S with laser light. This allows the laser welder 15 to shorten the downtime during which it is not irradiating laser light.

While the secondary battery 1 in jig 6e is being laser welded, the secondary battery 1 in jig 6b moves in the transport direction L to the left in the figure and arrives within the scan area (see welding location B in Figure 4). As a result, the secondary battery 1 in jig 6b on the opposite side can be placed within the laser irradiation range S of the laser welder 15 and laser welded in series with the secondary battery 1 in jig 6e, thereby shortening the time the laser welder 15 is idle.

When laser welding of the secondary battery 1 on the jig 6e on the first rail 11 is completed, the jig 6e is moved from the scan area in the transport direction R to the right in the drawing. At this time, the jigs 6d and 6f also move in the transport direction R to the right in the drawing along the first rail 11 toward the next stage or the like.
During this time, the secondary battery 1 on the jig 6c has already reached the scan area on the second rail 12. By repeating these steps during the circulating movement along the rail, the manufacturing equipment 10 can continuously irradiate the secondary batteries 1 located within the laser irradiation range S with laser light from the laser welder 15, thereby reducing downtime.

The conveying mechanism 17 shown in Figure 1 can circulate the jig 6 by using a turning mechanism to turn it back at the turning section 20 while maintaining the direction of the jig 6 in the same direction, and moving it from the first rail 11 to the second rail 12.
As shown in Figure 3, the jig 6 has holders 8 that hold the battery cases 2 on both sides of the circulation jig 7, with the first rail 11 or the second rail 12 sandwiched between them. This makes it possible to irradiate the laser beam continuously with reduced downtime even using a single laser welder 15. Therefore, this manufacturing method easily overcomes the conventional obstacle to high speed caused by laser welding.

Figures 7 and 8 show a battery manufacturing equipment and manufacturing method according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, parts that are the same as or equivalent to the battery manufacturing equipment 10 and manufacturing method according to the first embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 6 are designated by the same reference numerals and will not be described again, with the focus being on the differences.

In embodiment 2 shown in Figure 7, instead of the inclined holding portions 9, 9 (see Figure 3) arranged on both the left and right sides of the circulation jig 7 of the jig 6 of embodiment 1, the jig 26 has a pair of inclined holding portions 29, 29 extending horizontally from both the left and right sides of the circulation jig 27, approximately flush with the upper surface of the circulation jig 27.
These inclined holding portions 29, 29 are provided with holder portions 28, 28 that are inclined outward at a predetermined angle α and that hold components that make up the secondary battery 1.

The holder portion 28 has an upper surface portion 28a that is inclined outward at a predetermined angle α.
As shown in the figure, the upper surface portion 28a is provided with a pair of opposing holding pieces 28b, 28c on at least the long side. At least one of the holding pieces 28b, 28c is configured to move toward and away from each other.
In the second embodiment, an actuator 28f is disposed between the inclined holding portion 29 and the holding piece 28b so as to be expandable and contractible in the horizontal direction. The actuator 28f is configured to expand and contract to move the holding piece 28c toward or away from the holding piece 28b.

The holding pieces 28b, 28c are formed with contact surfaces 28d, 28e that sandwich the battery case 2 of the secondary battery 1 housed in the holder portion 28 from both sides. The contact surfaces 28d, 28e are formed to be inclined outward at a predetermined angle α so that they are parallel to each other.
As a result, the battery case 2 or the lid 3 is held at a desired position within the holder portion 8 by being clamped from both sides by the holding pieces.
Then, each battery case 2 can be sunk to a predetermined height position where it is approximately flush with the upper surface 28a, and the secondary battery 1 can be held in a tilted state at the same tilt angle α as the upper surface 28a.

The jig 26 of the second embodiment configured in this manner has the same effect as the first embodiment, and furthermore, the contact surfaces 28d, 28e formed on the respective holding pieces 28b, 28c of the holder portion 28 hold the components at an inclination of a predetermined angle α.
Therefore, the welding portion between the components is arranged in an inclined state so as to face directly toward the laser welding machine 15. Therefore, the laser beam from the laser welding machine 15 can be irradiated almost perpendicularly onto the welding portion, thereby enabling almost uniform laser welding.

The inclined holding portion 29 of the second embodiment may be configured in any manner as long as it holds the component at an angle toward the laser welder 15. For example, the holder portion 8 and the inclined holding portion 9 may be left as a single unit, and the connection angle with respect to the circulation jig 7 may be made variable. In this case, the degree of freedom in setting the inclination angle α can be further improved.
The other configurations and effects are the same as those of the first embodiment, so the description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the battery manufacturing equipment 10 and manufacturing method of the first and second embodiments can achieve practically beneficial effects, such as improving productivity while improving welding quality.
Specifically, the battery manufacturing equipment 10 of the first and second embodiments can improve productivity by using a single laser welder 15 while reducing the space required to install the laser welder 15. Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 5, the laser beam irradiated obliquely from the laser welder 15 is irradiated substantially perpendicularly onto a plurality of welding sites at different positions, thereby improving the welding quality.
Furthermore, the number of laser welders 15 can be reduced to one, instead of increasing to two or more. Therefore, even if expensive laser welders 15 having galvanometer scanners or the like are used, the number can be halved, thereby reducing equipment costs.

It is also possible to reduce the number of chillers (cooling water circulation devices) and main pipes, wiring, etc., that are attached to the laser welding machine 15. It is also possible to reduce the cost of equipment for improving welding quality, such as an image processing system using a camera or a position correction mechanism, a shielding gas function, and a dust collection system.
Furthermore, the running costs and maintenance costs of the laser welding machine 15 and the like can be reduced by half.
Therefore, the manufacturing equipment 10 of the first and second embodiments can improve productivity while maintaining good welding quality using a small number of laser welders 15.

In addition, holder portions 8 provided on both sides of each jig 6 each hold a battery case 2 .
This provides good weight balance, allowing two secondary batteries 1 to be stably transported using one jig 6. The laser welder 15 faces directly at the welding locations between the components of each secondary battery 1 held by the pair of left and right inclined holders 9, 9. This allows the laser welder 15 to laser weld the welding locations with good laser irradiation accuracy, further improving welding quality.

For example, the inclined holders 9, 9 that hold the battery cases 2, 2 may be rotatably connected to the left and right sides of the circulation jig 7 via a rotation axis, respectively. This allows the upper surface of the inclined holder 9 to be positioned approximately horizontally when the components of the secondary battery 1 are placed on the battery mounting stage 40. This improves workability when placing components into the holder part 8 or assembling the components together.

The welding portion is tilted around the rotation axis together with the tilt holder 9 before being laser-welded on the welding stage 16. Therefore, the welding portion faces the laser welder 15 directly, improving the quality of the welding.
In this way, the manufacturing equipment 10 and the manufacturing method using the manufacturing equipment 10 can achieve the target production volume per unit time by further improving manufacturing efficiency while maintaining the quality of laser welding at a specified level or higher.

The present invention has been described above based on embodiments 1 and 2, but the present invention is not limited to the configurations described in embodiments 1 and 2. The present invention can be modified as appropriate within the scope of its spirit, including by appropriately combining or selecting the configurations described in embodiments 1 and 2. Furthermore, it is possible to add or delete parts of the configurations of embodiments 1 and 2, or to add or replace other configurations. Possible variations of embodiments 1 and 2 above include, for example, the following:

That is, in the jig 6 of the manufacturing equipment 10 of the first and second embodiments, the inclined holding portions 9, 9 that hold the battery cases 2, 2 are fixed integrally to the circulation jig 7.
However, the configuration of the jig 6 is not particularly limited to this. For example, inclined holding portions 9, 9 may be rotatably connected to the left and right sides of the circulation jig 7 via a rotation shaft so that the left and right tip sides, respectively, can move up and down.
In this case, after components are loaded into holders 8 provided on inclined holders 9 on battery mounting stage 40, each inclined holder 9 is rotated to lower the side edges outward at a predetermined angle α from the left and right sides. As a result, the components held on inclined holders 9 are tilted so as to face directly toward laser welder 15 before being laser-welded on welding stage 16. The components may then be configured so that the weld portions are laser-welded substantially perpendicularly with the laser beam from laser welder 15.

3, the jig 6 of the first embodiment has inclined holders 9, 9 fixed at a predetermined angle α (for example, α = approximately 15 degrees) on the left and right sides of the circulation jig 7. However, the angle α connecting the circulation jig 7 and the inclined holders 9 is not particularly limited to this.
For example, the angle α of the inclined holding portion 9 connected to the circulation jig 7 may be set within the range of approximately 1 to 60 degrees, preferably approximately 5 to 45 degrees, and more preferably approximately 10 to 20 degrees.
In other words, it is sufficient that the laser beam can be irradiated onto the welding portion of the component parts approximately perpendicular to the welding portion at least during the laser welding process, and the inclined holding portions 9, 9 can be connected to the left and right sides of the circulation jig 7 at any angle α.
For example, the inclined holding portions 9 and 29 may be configured in any manner as long as they hold the components at an angle toward the laser welding machine 15. For example, the entire upper surface may be inclined while the circulation jig 7 and the inclined holding portion 9 of the jig 6 remain integrated. In other words, as long as the holder portions 8 and 28 hold the components at an angle toward the laser welding machine 15, the configurations are not limited to those of the first and second embodiments, and the shape and number of the inclined holding portions and the holder portions, and the mechanism for holding or tilting the battery components may be any.

Furthermore, the laser welder 15 in the first and second embodiments is provided between a pair of first rail 11 and second rail 12. Three or more rails may be provided. That is, it is sufficient that the laser welder 15 is provided between at least any pair of rails.
Furthermore, the shape, number and type of the laser welding machines 15 are not particularly limited.

The folding sections 20 and 20R in embodiments 1 and 2 are provided with a folding mechanism that rotates the jig 6 90 degrees relative to the slider 17a around a vertical axis. However, the configuration of the folding mechanism is not limited to this. For example, any folding mechanism configuration may be used as long as it folds the jig 6 while maintaining the same orientation.

Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments, the battery case 2 for the secondary battery 1 and the lid 3 for closing the opening 4 of the battery case 2 are shown and described as multiple components as shown in FIG. 2, but the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, the components may be configured by a lid 3 that closes the opening 4 of the battery case 2, which is a cylindrical battery case with a bottom, and a terminal 3d that is inserted into a terminal hole 3h that is formed in the lid 3. In this case, the welding portion located between the lid 3 and the terminal 3d is laser-welded facing the laser welding machine 15.
In other words, any other battery component may be used as long as it is a component that constitutes a battery, and the number, shape, or material of the component is not particularly limited.

In embodiments 1 and 2, a circumferential welding path 5 is set as the welding portion, and the entire periphery of the opening 4 is laser welded, but this is not limited to this. For example, when laser welding a welding portion located between the lid 3 and the terminal 3d, at least one location, preferably a pair of diagonally positioned components, should be laser welded. In other words, the welding portion may have any shape, such as an annular or spot-shaped, and there are no particular limitations on the number, shape, or combination of laser-welded welding portions.

1 Secondary battery (battery)
2 Battery case (one of the components)
3. Lid (one of the components)
6 Jig 9 Inclined holding portion 10 Manufacturing equipment 11, 12 First and second rails (pair of rails)
15 Laser welding machine 17 Transfer mechanism S Laser irradiation range

Claims (8)

A battery manufacturing facility for laser welding a plurality of components that constitute a battery,
a plurality of jigs for holding the components;
a conveying mechanism having at least one pair of rails and conveying the plurality of jigs along the rails;
a laser welder that is provided between the pair of rails and that laser-welds the welding portions between the plurality of components,
The jig has an inclined holding portion that holds the component at an angle toward the laser welding machine,
The battery manufacturing facility is characterized in that the laser welding machine places the welding area transported along each of the pair of rails within a laser irradiation range. The pair of rails includes a first rail that transports the jig in one of the transport directions;
a second rail provided parallel to the first rail and transporting the jig in the opposite direction;
a turning portion is provided between the end of the jig on the first rail in the conveying direction and the start of the jig on the second rail in the conveying direction, and the turning portion circulates the jig conveyed from the first rail to the second rail,
2. The battery manufacturing facility according to claim 1, wherein the folding unit has a folding mechanism that folds the jig while maintaining the same orientation when folding. The battery manufacturing equipment described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the inclined holding section is provided with holder sections on both sides of the rail, each holding the component. The battery manufacturing equipment described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the tilted holding section is provided with tilted holder sections on both sides of the rail, each having abutment surfaces that tilt and clamp the component. The component includes a battery case having a bottomed cylindrical shape and a lid that closes an opening of the battery case,
5. The battery manufacturing facility according to claim 1, wherein the welding portion is provided between a peripheral edge of the opening and an outer periphery of the lid. The component includes a lid that closes an opening of a battery case that is a cylindrical bottomed body, and a terminal that is inserted into a terminal hole of the lid,
A battery manufacturing facility according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the welding portion is provided between the periphery of the upper opening of the terminal hole and the periphery of the terminal protruding from the lid body. a conveying step of conveying a plurality of components having welded portions along a pair of parallel rails while each component is held by a jig;
a laser welding process in which the inclined holding portion of the jig disposed between the pair of rails is inclined toward a laser welding machine, and the weld portion between the components is placed within a laser irradiation range and laser-welded;
a turning process in which the jig is moved between the pair of rails while maintaining the jig in the same direction to circulate the component;
A battery manufacturing method comprising: The battery manufacturing method described in claim 7, characterized in that the laser welding process alternately welds the welding portions of each of the components transported to both sides of the laser welding machine, one side at a time.