JPH0410187B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for assembling electrode plates and separators, and more particularly to an apparatus for folding a separator into two and assembling an electrode plate therein.

Conventional Structures and Their Problems In lead-acid batteries, one electrode plate, for example, a positive electrode plate, is sometimes inserted into a bag-like separator to form an electrode plate group. Use of a bag-like separator is effective in preventing short circuits caused by deposits of fallen active material on the bottom of the battery case. As a method for covering the electrode plate with a bag-like separator, there is a method of inserting the electrode plate into a bag-like separator, but automation is not easy because it requires an operation to expand the bag-like separator. Also,
At the same time, by providing a separator support stand having a through hole in a portion corresponding to the fold of the separator, and advancing the electrode plate from the front of the support stand so as to push it into the through hole, the separator is folded in half. Another method is to insert the electrode plate into the separator and use a clamp provided at the rear of the support stand to seal both side edges of the separator. According to this method, it is possible to bag the electrode plates automatically, but since the jig for sandwiching the electrode plates into the separators requires reciprocating motion, it is difficult to operate at high speed. be.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus in which the main body of the apparatus is rotary and operates at high speed, and is capable of folding a separator in two and inserting an electrode plate into the separator.

Configuration of the Invention The device of the present invention includes a conveying device that conveys an electrode plate,
a first suction roller provided at the end of the conveyance device;
a second suction roller that clamps the electrode plate and the separator together with the first suction roller; and means for generating suction force on the surface of the roller before reaching the clamping position with respect to the first suction roller. , a device for supplying the separator to the suction portion of the first suction roller; and a device for supplying the separator to the suction portion of the first suction roller; means for adsorbing the roller surface to a rotating position; a guide provided between the transport device and the first suction roller to guide the electrode plate supplied from the transport device; and a guide provided at a position facing the guide. A first clamping belt is stretched between the roller and the second suction roller to clamp the electrode plate together with the guide, and a first clamping belt is provided on the rear side of the second suction roller for bending the separator. a bending guide; and a second sandwiching belt for sandwiching a bifold separator with an electrode plate sandwiched therein at the rear of the bending guide;
The separator supplied to the suction roller and the electrode plate supplied from the conveying device are placed in a first
and a second suction roller.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Figures 1-3 illustrate the operation of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.

A is a long strip-shaped separator material, a is a separator cut into a predetermined length, and b is an electrode plate.

1 is a first suction roller, and 2 is a second suction roller that, together with the first suction roller, sandwiches the separator and the electrode plate, and works with a separator bending guide 3 provided at the rear of the separator to fold the separator in half. These rollers are disposed at the end of the chain conveyor 4 that conveys the electrode plates.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a separator supply device provided below the first suction roller 1, which supplies the guide roller 6 from the reel.
A pair of feed rollers 7, 8 that determine the feed speed of the separator material A to be fed out, and a pair of cutting rollers 9, 10 that cut into separators of a certain length and create a crease in the center of the separators.
The separator cut by the cutting roller is supplied to the circumferential surface of the first suction roller 1.

As shown in FIG. 4, the first suction roller 1 is
For example, a plurality of sets of four suction holes 11 are provided on the entire circumferential surface, and each set of holes communicates with an opening 13 provided on the side surface of the roller through a ventilation passage 12 provided within the roller. There is. A fixed adsorption control plate 14 is provided on the side surface of the roller 1 to allow the roller to come into airtight sliding contact with the roller. It is provided in an arc shape so as to correspond to approximately the right half of 1. Since the ventilation path 15 communicates with the suction device,
When the roller rotates, negative pressure is generated in the part of the set of holes 11 that communicate with the ventilation path 15,
Therefore, the roller 1 has a suction force on the approximately right half of its circumferential surface corresponding to the portion indicated by the dotted line 16 in FIG.

As can be seen from the above description, the separator that is cut into a predetermined length and sent out from the cutting rollers 9 and 10 to the lower part of the suction roller 1 as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, its tip is first attracted to the circumferential surface of the roller 1, and as the roller 1 rotates, it is attracted to the surface of the roller 1 and wound around it as shown in FIG.

Next, the chain conveyor 4 that conveys the electrode plates is
Protrusions 1 are driven by a drive shaft 17 that rotates in synchronization with the suction roller, and are provided at equal intervals on the conveyor.
8 pushes the rear end of the electrode plate and supplies it to the rollers 1 and 2 side. A driving roller 19 and a driven roller 20 that rotate in synchronization with the driving shaft 17 are provided between the conveyor 4 and the roller 1, and a belt 21 is stretched between the rollers 19 and 20. On the other hand, a first clamping belt 23 is stretched between the suction roller 2 and a roller 22 arranged above the roller 19. The belt 23 has, for example, two belts as shown in FIG.
It is composed of a book belt, and the surface of the roller 2 part is the same as the surface of the roller.
It is designed to fit into the recess on the roller surface.

The electrode plate conveyed by the chain conveyor 4 is sandwiched between the belts 21 and 22 and supplied between the suction rollers 1 and 2, but the timing is as follows.
Adjustment is made so that the crease at the center of the separator wrapped around the suction roller 1 and the tip of the electrode plate almost coincide with each other. In this way, the electrode plate is superimposed on the separator so that the folded part of the separator and the tip of the electrode plate almost match, and the electrode plate is sandwiched between suction rollers 1 and 2, and the next step is to fold the separator in half. enter.

The second suction roller 2, as shown in FIG.
For example, four suction holes 24 are opened in a specific portion of the circumferential surface. This hole 24 communicates with an opening 26 in the side surface of the roller through a ventilation passage 25. roller 2
A fixed adsorption control plate 27 is provided on the side surface of the roller to allow the roller to slide in airtight contact, and a ventilation passage 28 opened to the roller side is provided in an arc shape as shown by the dotted line 29 in FIG. Channel 28 communicates with a suction device. Therefore, the suction roller 2 can only be suctioned to the surface from immediately after the portion having the suction holes 24 between the separator and the roller 1 until it reaches a rotational position corresponding to about half of the total length of the separator. Demonstrate strength.

In this way, the second suction roller 2 is connected to the roller 1,
The front half of the separator is wound around the surface of the roller 2 until the separator and the electrode plate are superimposed on each other, as shown in FIG. 2. When the suction holes 24 are no longer communicated with the air passages 28 due to the rotation of the roller 2, the suction of the separator is released, the separator separates from the surface of the roller 2, and hits the bending guide 3 upward due to inertia. On the other hand, the part of the separator that overlaps with the electrode plate moves straight along with the electrode plate, so
As shown in FIG. 3, the tip of the first half of the separator is supported by the guide 3, and as the second half advances, it is folded onto the electrode plate. The lower end of the guide 3 is designed to facilitate bending of the separator.
It is preferable to bend it slightly toward the rear.

In this way, the separator folded in half and containing the electrode plate is pressed down by the second sandwiching belt 30, and the electrode plate is tightly sandwiched therein. 31,
32 is a roller of the belt 30. In this example, a belt 33 stretched around the roller 2 is used as a member that supports the separator. This belt 33 is composed of two belts, and is designed to fit into a recess on the roller surface so that it is flush with the circumferential surface of the roller 2, and the belt surface is made of a soft porous material such as a resin sponge. It consists of 3
4 is a guide roller of the belt 33.

As described above, the assembly of the separator folded in half and the electrode plate sandwiched therein passes through an ultrasonic welding machine in the process of being sandwiched between the belts 30 and 33 and moving. , the overlapping portions of both side edges of the separator are welded to form a bag shape. FIG. 5 shows the assembly thus obtained, with the plates located within the bag-like separator with their leads projecting out from the opening of the bag.

As described above, the device according to the present invention includes a first suction roller that generates suction force on the surface at a specific rotational position, and a second suction roller whose specific portion generates suction force at a specific rotational position. By skillfully combining the separator and the electrode plate, the separator and the electrode plate are overlapped and sandwiched at a position corresponding to the fold of the separator, and the separator is folded in half using a bending guide provided at the rear of the second suction roller. . In this way, since the assembly of the separator and the electrode plates is made in a rotary manner, it is possible to increase efficiency by high-speed operation.

Note that the timing of supplying the separator to roller 1 is such that when the tip of the separator attracted to roller 1 is sandwiched between roller 2, the suction hole of roller 2 comes to a position corresponding to the tip of the separator. In addition, it is necessary to adjust the electrode plate supplied from the conveyor 4 so that its tip coincides with the crease of the separator. Therefore, in the above-mentioned device, the pinching belt 23 stretched between the rollers 2 and 22 and the drive roller 1 of the conveyor 4 are
Belt 2 driven by roller 19 that rotates synchronously with belt 7
1, the plate is forcibly fed between the rollers 1 and 2, but a guide is used instead of the belt 21 to guide the plate pressed by the belt 23 so that it moves smoothly. It's okay.

Furthermore, a belt 33 stretched around the roller 1 is provided for a clamping belt 30 that presses the separator onto the electrode plate when the front half of the separator is bent by the bending guide 3. 33 may be replaced by a guide that does not hinder the movement of the separator.

In the above example, the separator is cut with a serrated blade and a crease is carved at the position corresponding to the crease of the separator, but the crease is not necessarily necessary, and the separator is cut to a fixed size in advance. The objects may be supplied one by one.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, a separator can be folded into two automatically and at high speed, and an electrode plate can be inserted between the two, making it possible to speed up battery assembly. It is something.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1, 2, and 3 are side views showing the assembly process of separators and electrode plates using the apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 1-' in FIG. 5, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a front view showing an assembly of a separator and an electrode plate. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... First suction roller, 2... Second suction roller, 3... Separator bending guide, 4... Plate conveyance device, 5... Separator supply device, 11, 2
4... Suction hole, 14, 27... Suction control plate, 15
(16), 28 (29)...Air passage for controlling suction, 21...Belt (guide), 22...Roller,
23...First clamping belt, 30...Second clamping belt, 33...Belt (guide).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A conveyance device that conveys the electrode plate, a first suction roller provided at the end of the conveyance device, a second suction roller that sandwiches the electrode plate and separator together with the first suction roller, and a first suction roller. means for generating suction force on the surface of the roller before the roller reaches the nipping position; a device for supplying the separator to the suction portion of the first suction roller; means for adsorbing the tip of the separator to the roller surface from immediately after the nipping position to a rotational position corresponding to about half of its total length; and a means provided between the conveying device and the first suction roller. a guide that guides the electrode plate supplied from the conveyance device, and a roller provided at a position facing the guide and a second suction roller, and is stretched between the roller and the second suction roller to sandwich the electrode plate together with the guide. A first clamping belt, a bending guide provided on the rear side of the second suction roller for folding the separator, and a bifold separator with an electrode plate sandwiched therein at the rear of the bending guide. The separator supplied to the first suction roller and the electrode plate supplied from the conveying device are arranged so that the position corresponding to the fold of the separator and the front end of the electrode plate are approximately the same. 1. An apparatus for assembling electrode plates and separators, characterized in that the electrode plates and separators are sandwiched between first and second suction rollers.