CN-122025957-A - Battery cell stacking apparatus and method

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a battery cell stacking apparatus and method. The battery cell stacking apparatus includes an arrangement unit configured to arrange battery cells to be stacked, a transfer unit configured to clamp and transfer some of the battery cells arranged by the arrangement unit, a polarity direction changing unit configured to change a polarity direction of some of the battery cells by rotating some of the battery cells transferred from the transfer unit, a rearrangement unit configured to clamp some of the battery cells whose polarity direction is changed by the polarity direction changing unit and rearrange some of the battery cells whose polarity direction is changed by the polarity direction changing unit at their original positions between the arranged battery cells, and a controller configured to control operations of the arrangement unit, the transfer unit, the polarity direction changing unit, and the rearrangement unit.

Inventors

• BAI ZHONGSHU

Assignees

• 三星SDI株式会社

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20251029

Priority Date

20241111

Claims (15)

1. 1. A battery cell stacking apparatus, the battery cell stacking apparatus comprising: An arrangement unit configured to arrange battery cells to be stacked; A transfer unit configured to grip and transfer some of the battery cells arranged by the arrangement unit; a polarity direction changing unit configured to change a polarity direction of the some battery cells by rotating the some battery cells transferred from the transfer unit; A rearrangement unit configured to hold the some of the battery cells whose polarity direction is changed by the polarity direction changing unit and rearrange the some of the battery cells whose polarity direction is changed by the polarity direction changing unit at original positions thereof between the arranged battery cells, and And a controller configured to control operations of the arrangement unit, the transfer unit, the polarity direction changing unit, and the rearrangement unit.
2. 2. The battery cell stacking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the arrangement unit adjusts a spacing between the battery cells to be stacked according to a size and/or shape of each respective battery cell of the battery cells to be stacked, and comprises a position sensor configured to detect a position of the arranged battery cells.
3. 3. The battery cell stacking apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the transfer unit and the rearrangement unit includes a plurality of grippers, and each of the transfer unit and the rearrangement unit is configured to simultaneously grip and move a corresponding battery cell of a plurality of battery cells while maintaining a constant spacing between the plurality of battery cells.
4. 4. The battery cell stacking apparatus of claim 3, wherein the contact surface of each of the plurality of holders is made of an elastic material to prevent damage to the surface of each of the plurality of battery cells.
5. 5. The battery cell stacking apparatus of claim 3, wherein a width and a height of a gripper of the plurality of grippers are adjustable to grip a respective battery cell of the plurality of battery cells.
6. 6. The battery cell stacking apparatus of claim 1, wherein the polarity direction changing unit includes a turntable configured to rotate the some battery cells and a pitch adjusting section configured to adjust a pitch when the polarity direction of the some battery cells is changed.
7. 7. The battery cell stacking apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the battery cells in the battery cells are pouch-type battery cells.
8. 8. The battery cell stacking apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the battery cells in the battery cells are prismatic battery cells.
9. 9. A method of stacking battery cells, the method comprising the steps of: Arranging the battery cells to be stacked in rows; Clamping some of the battery cells of the arrangement and transferring the clamped some battery cells to a polarity direction changing unit; rotating the transferred battery cells to change the polarity direction of the transferred battery cells, and The some of the battery cells whose polarity direction is changed are clamped, and the some of the battery cells are rearranged at original positions thereof between the remaining battery cells other than the some of the battery cells.
10. 10. The battery cell stacking method of claim 9, wherein the steps of transferring the clamped battery cells and rearranging the battery cells comprise automatically adjusting a clamping force of a clamp configured to clamp the battery cells according to a weight and/or a size of a corresponding battery cell of the battery cells.
11. 11. The battery cell stacking method of claim 9 or 10, wherein rotating the transferred battery cells comprises adjusting a pitch to prevent interference while rotating the transferred battery cells.
12. 12. The battery cell stacking method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the step of rearranging the some battery cells includes adjusting the direction of the arranged battery cells and the spacing between the arranged battery cells to complete the arrangement of the battery cells in a row when the some battery cells whose polarity direction is changed are inserted at their original positions between the remaining battery cells among the arranged battery cells.
13. 13. A battery cell stacking apparatus including an arrangement unit configured to arrange a plurality of battery cells in a row to have the same polarity direction, a transfer unit configured to hold the plurality of battery cells arranged by the arrangement unit and move the plurality of battery cells held by the transfer unit to the polarity direction changing unit, hold the plurality of battery cells whose polarity direction is changed by the polarity direction changing unit, and rearrange the plurality of battery cells held by the transfer unit at their original positions between the arranged battery cells, the polarity direction changing unit configured to change the polarity direction of the plurality of battery cells by rotating the plurality of battery cells moved to the polarity direction changing unit by the transfer unit, Wherein the transfer unit is coupled to the polarity direction changing unit, and the rotation of the plurality of battery cells is achieved by a rotational movement of the transfer unit.
14. 14. The battery cell stacking apparatus of claim 13, wherein the transfer unit comprises a plurality of grippers configured to simultaneously grip and move the plurality of battery cells while maintaining a constant spacing between respective battery cells of the plurality of battery cells.
15. 15. The battery cell stacking apparatus of claim 14, wherein contact surfaces of the holders among the plurality of holders are made of an elastic material to stably hold the battery cells among the plurality of battery cells when the plurality of battery cells are rotated by the polarity direction changing unit.

Description

Battery cell stacking apparatus and method Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a battery cell stacking apparatus and method for stacking battery cells by simultaneously changing the polarity directions of the battery cells. Background Unlike primary batteries, which are not designed to be recharged, secondary batteries are designed to be discharged and recharged. Low-capacity secondary batteries are used for portable small-sized electronic devices such as smart phones, function phones, laptop computers, digital cameras, and video cameras, and large-capacity secondary batteries are widely used as power sources for driving motors in hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, and the like, as well as for power storage batteries. Such a secondary battery includes an electrode assembly formed of positive and negative electrodes, a case for accommodating the electrode assembly, and an electrode terminal connected to the electrode assembly. The information disclosed herein in this background section is for enhancement of understanding of the background of the disclosure and, therefore, may contain information that does not form a related (or prior) art. Disclosure of Invention The present disclosure is directed to a battery cell stacking apparatus and method that can reduce an operating time by simultaneously clamping a plurality of battery cells, changing their polarity directions, and stacking the plurality of battery cells. According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a battery cell stacking apparatus including an arrangement unit configured to arrange battery cells to be stacked, a transfer unit configured to clamp and transfer some of the battery cells arranged by the arrangement unit, a polarity direction changing unit configured to change a polarity direction of some of the battery cells by rotating some of the battery cells transferred from the transfer unit, a rearrangement unit configured to clamp some of the battery cells whose polarity direction is changed by the polarity direction changing unit and rearrange some of the battery cells whose polarity direction is changed by the polarity direction changing unit at their original positions between the arranged battery cells, and a controller configured to control operations of the arrangement unit, the transfer unit, the polarity direction changing unit, and the rearrangement unit. In some embodiments, the arrangement unit adjusts a spacing between the battery cells to be stacked according to a size and/or shape of each respective battery cell in the battery cells to be stacked, and includes a position sensor configured to detect a position of the arranged battery cells. In some embodiments, each of the transfer unit and the rearrangement unit includes a plurality of grippers, and each of the transfer unit and the rearrangement unit is configured to simultaneously grip and move a plurality of battery cells while maintaining a constant spacing between respective battery cells of the plurality of battery cells. In some embodiments, the contact surface of each of the plurality of holders is made of an elastic material to prevent damage to the surface of each of the plurality of battery cells. In some embodiments, the width and height of the holders of the plurality of holders can be adjusted to hold respective ones of the plurality of battery cells. In some embodiments, the polarity direction changing unit includes a turntable configured to rotate some of the battery cells and a pitch adjusting portion configured to adjust the pitch when a polarity direction of some of the battery cells is changed. In some embodiments, the cells in the battery cells are pouch-type cells. In some embodiments, the cells in the battery cells are prismatic cells. According to another embodiment, there is provided a battery cell stacking method including arranging battery cells to be stacked in a row, clamping some of the arranged battery cells and transferring the clamped some of the battery cells to a polarity direction changing unit, rotating the transferred some of the battery cells to change a polarity direction of the transferred some of the battery cells, and clamping the changed polarity direction of some of the battery cells and rearranging some of the battery cells at original positions thereof between remaining battery cells other than some of the battery cells among the arranged battery cells. In some embodiments, the steps of transferring some of the battery cells that are clamped and rearranging some of the battery cells include automatically adjusting a clamping force of a clamp configured to clamp some of the battery cells according to a weight and/or size of a corresponding battery cell of the some of the battery cells. In some embodiments, rotating the transferred ones of the battery cells includes adjusting a spacing to prevent interference while rotating the transferred ones of the battery cells. In some embodiments, the step of