CN-122003597-A - Battery electrode tab inspection apparatus and method

CN122003597ACN 122003597 ACN122003597 ACN 122003597ACN-122003597-A

Abstract

An electrode tab inspection device according to an embodiment of the invention may include at least one processor and a memory for storing at least one instruction executed by the at least one processor. Here, the at least one instruction may include an instruction for obtaining CT data of the battery from a Computed Tomography (CT) apparatus, an instruction for obtaining an electrode tab region where a predetermined upper portion of the electrode tab is based on a height direction of the battery from the CT data, an instruction for extracting a vertical cross-sectional image of the electrode tab from the CT data using a horizontal cross-sectional image within the electrode tab region, and an instruction for determining whether the electrode tab is defective using the vertical cross-sectional image of the electrode tab.

Inventors

YAN DONGHUAN
Wu Shangzhen
JIANG MINGXUN
LIN ZHIXUN
HONG SHENGJUN

Assignees

株式会社LG新能源

Dates

Publication Date: 20260508
Application Date: 20250725
Priority Date: 20240820

Claims (15)

1. An electrode tab inspection apparatus comprising: At least one processor, and A memory configured to store at least one instruction for execution by the at least one processor, Wherein the at least one instruction comprises: instructions for obtaining Computed Tomography (CT) data of the battery from the CT device; Deriving an instruction of an electrode tab region where a predetermined upper portion of an electrode tab is based on a height direction of the battery from the CT data; instructions for extracting a vertical cross-sectional image of the electrode tab from the CT data using a horizontal cross-sectional image within the electrode tab region, and Instructions to determine whether the electrode tab is defective using the vertical cross-sectional image of the electrode tab.
2. The electrode tab inspection device of claim 1, wherein the instructions to derive the electrode tab region comprise: Instructions to determine a starting height and an ending height of the upper portion of the electrode tab based on a gray level of each of a plurality of horizontal cross-sectional images.
3. The electrode tab inspection device of claim 1, wherein the instructions to derive the electrode tab region comprise: Instructions for determining a first height corresponding to the bent portion of the electrode tab and a second height corresponding to the end portion of the electrode tab, and Instructions to determine a region from the first height to the second height as the electrode tab region.
4. The electrode tab inspection device of claim 3, wherein the instructions to extract the vertical cross-sectional image of the electrode tab comprise: instructions to extract a vertical cross-sectional image through a vertical central plane of the electrode tab using a first horizontal cross-sectional image at the first height and a second horizontal cross-sectional image at the second height.
5. The electrode tab inspection device of claim 4 wherein the instructions to extract the vertical cross-sectional image comprise: Instructions to define a bend line of the electrode tab in the first horizontal cross-sectional image and an end line of the electrode tab in the second horizontal cross-sectional image; instructions for defining an electrode tab centerline through a midpoint of the bend line and a midpoint of the end line, and Instructions for a vertical cross-sectional image corresponding to the electrode tab centerline are extracted from the CT data.
6. The electrode tab inspection device of claim 1, wherein the instructions for determining whether the electrode tab is defective comprise: instructions for determining, using the vertical cross-sectional image, one or more of whether there is contact between the electrode tab and an electrode assembly, whether there is contact between the electrode tab and an inner wall of the battery, and whether the electrode tab has a shape defect.
7. The electrode tab inspection device of claim 1, wherein the instructions for determining whether the electrode tab is defective comprise: Instructions for inputting the vertical cross-sectional image into a diagnostic model pre-trained using the vertical cross-sectional image as learning data and obtaining diagnostic result data from the diagnostic model.
8. An electrode tab inspection method using an electrode tab inspection apparatus connected to a Computed Tomography (CT) device, the electrode tab inspection method comprising: A step of acquiring CT data of a battery from the CT device; a step of obtaining, from the CT data, an electrode tab region in which a predetermined upper portion of an electrode tab is located based on a height direction of the battery; a step of extracting a vertical cross-sectional image of the electrode tab from the CT data using a horizontal cross-sectional image in the electrode tab region, and A step of determining whether the electrode tab is defective using the vertical cross-sectional image of the electrode tab.
9. The electrode tab inspection method of claim 8 wherein the step of obtaining the electrode tab region comprises: Determining a starting height and an ending height of the upper portion of the electrode tab based on a gray level of each of a plurality of horizontal cross-sectional images.
10. The electrode tab inspection method of claim 8 wherein the step of obtaining the electrode tab region comprises: a step of determining a first height corresponding to the bent portion of the electrode tab and a second height corresponding to the end portion of the electrode tab, and And determining a region from the first height to the second height as the electrode tab region.
11. The electrode tab inspection method of claim 10 wherein the step of extracting the vertical cross-sectional image of the electrode tab comprises: A step of extracting a vertical cross-sectional image through a vertical central plane of the electrode tab using a first horizontal cross-sectional image at the first height and a second horizontal cross-sectional image at the second height.
12. The electrode tab inspection method of claim 11 wherein the step of extracting the vertical cross-sectional image comprises: a step of defining a bend line of the electrode tab in the first horizontal cross-sectional image and an end line of the electrode tab in the second horizontal cross-sectional image; Defining an electrode tab centerline passing through a midpoint of the bend line and a midpoint of the end line, and And extracting a vertical cross-sectional image corresponding to the electrode tab center line from the CT data.
13. The electrode tab inspection method of claim 8 wherein the step of determining whether the electrode tab is defective comprises: A step of determining, using the vertical cross-sectional image, one or more of whether there is contact between the electrode tab and an electrode assembly, whether there is contact between the electrode tab and an inner wall of the battery, and whether the electrode tab has a shape defect.
14. The electrode tab inspection method of claim 8 wherein the step of determining whether the electrode tab is defective comprises: A step of inputting the vertical cross-sectional image into a diagnostic model trained in advance using the vertical cross-sectional image as learning data and obtaining diagnostic result data from the diagnostic model.
15. An electrode tab inspection system comprising: a Computed Tomography (CT) apparatus configured to generate CT data for a battery, and An electrode tab inspection apparatus configured to obtain the CT data from the CT device and to determine whether an electrode tab located inside the battery is defective using the CT data; Wherein the electrode tab inspection apparatus extracts a vertical cross-sectional image of the electrode tab from the CT data and uses the extracted vertical cross-sectional image to determine whether the electrode tab is defective.

Description

Battery electrode tab inspection apparatus and method Technical Field The present application claims priority and rights of korean patent application No. 10-2024-011015, filed at the korean intellectual property office at 8.20 of 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for inspecting an electrode tab of a battery, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for inspecting an electrode tab of a battery, which determine whether the electrode tab is defective using Computed Tomography (CT) data of the battery. Background Secondary batteries that can be recharged and reused can be used as energy sources for small-sized devices such as mobile phones, tablet computers, and vacuum cleaners, and can also be used as energy sources for Energy Storage Systems (ESS) for medium-sized and large-sized devices such as automobiles and smart grids. Secondary batteries can be classified into can-type batteries in which an electrode assembly is received in a cylindrical metal can and pouch-type batteries in which an electrode assembly is received in a pouch-shaped case. Cylindrical can-type batteries are generally known for their relatively high capacity and structural stability. Cylindrical batteries are manufactured through a series of processes including electrode manufacturing, electrode assembly insertion, and can assembly bonding. Meanwhile, quality inspection may be performed during and after the manufacturing process for the cylindrical battery. An electrode assembly of a cylindrical battery is formed by stacking positive and negative electrode plates with a separator interposed therebetween and winding them into a wound shape. The positive and negative electrode tabs protrude from the positive and negative electrode plates, respectively, and are coupled to the positive and negative electrodes. Typically, the defect inspection of the electrode tabs is performed by visually inspecting a vertical cross-sectional image obtained from Computed Tomography (CT) data of the battery, and then screening out the battery having defective electrode tabs. The accuracy of such electrode tab inspection methods depends on the inspection skills of the operator, which may result in low inspection reliability and inspection time delay. Furthermore, this method makes it impossible to inspect all the produced batteries, and therefore only a few selected batteries can be inspected. In order to solve these problems, there is a need for a suitable inspection technique that can more accurately and rapidly determine whether a battery has a defective electrode tab. In the prior art documents related to the present invention, KR 10-2024-0100647A has a certain relevance. Disclosure of Invention Technical problem To obviate one or more problems of the related art, embodiments of the present disclosure provide an electrode tab inspection apparatus for determining whether an electrode tab of a battery is defective using Computed Tomography (CT) data. In order to obviate one or more problems of the prior art, embodiments of the present disclosure also provide an electrode tab inspection method performed by an electrode tab inspection apparatus. To obviate one or more problems of the prior art, embodiments of the present disclosure also provide an electrode tab inspection system including an electrode tab inspection apparatus Technical proposal For purposes of this disclosure, an electrode tab inspection device may include at least one processor and a memory configured to store at least one instruction for execution by the at least one processor. Here, the at least one instruction may include an instruction for obtaining CT data of the battery from a Computer Tomography (CT) apparatus, an instruction for obtaining an electrode tab region where a predetermined upper portion of the electrode tab is located from the CT data based on a height direction of the battery, an instruction for extracting a vertical cross-sectional image of the electrode tab from the CT data using a horizontal cross-sectional image within the electrode tab region, and an instruction for determining whether the electrode tab is defective using the vertical cross-sectional image of the electrode tab. The instructions for deriving the electrode tab region may include instructions for determining a starting height and an ending height of the upper portion of the electrode tab based on a gray level of each of the plurality of horizontal cross-sectional images. The instructions for obtaining the electrode tab region may include instructions for determining a first height corresponding to the bent portion of the electrode tab and a second height corresponding to the end portion of the electrode tab, and instructions for determining a region from the first height to the second height as the electrode tab region. The instructions to extract a vertical cross-sectional image of the electrode tab ma