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EP-4474126-B1 - DEVICE FOR SUPPLYING POUCH FILM FOR SECONDARY BATTERY

EP4474126B1EP 4474126 B1EP4474126 B1EP 4474126B1EP-4474126-B1

Inventors

  • KIM, JAE WOON

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20231122

Claims (14)

  1. A pouch film supply device (100, 100') for a secondary battery, comprising: a plurality of first guide rollers (110) installed between a pouch film inlet and a pouch film outlet to be spaced apart from each other, and configured to guide a pouch film, wherein one side of each of the plurality of first guide rollers (110) is fixedly supported; a plurality of second guide rollers (120) installed below the plurality of first guide rollers (110) between the pouch film inlet and the pouch film outlet to be spaced apart from each other, and configured to guide the pouch film; and an inclination measurement member (130A, 130B) provided on another side of each of the first guide rollers (110) to measure at least one of a vertical inclination and a horizontal inclination of each of the first guide rollers (110),and, an inclination adjustment member configured to adjust at least one of the vertical inclination or the horizontal inclination of each of the first guide rollers (110).
  2. The pouch film supply device (100, 100') of claim 1, wherein the pouch film is alternately guided by the first guide rollers (110) and the second guide rollers (120) to form a zigzag driving path between the pouch film inlet and the pouch film outlet.
  3. The pouch film supply device (100, 100') of claim 1, wherein both sides of each of the second guide rollers (120) are fixedly installed below the first guide rollers (110), and at least one of the first guide rollers (110) is installed to be moved up or down with respect to the second guide rollers (120).
  4. The pouch film supply device (100, 100') of claim 1, wherein each of the first guide rollers (110) comprises: a roller part (111, 121) extending across a direction in which the pouch film is guided and configured to guide the pouch film; bearing parts (112, 122) installed at both sides of the roller part (111, 121); and a first extension rod (113A) fixedly supported while protruding from the bearing part (112, 122) to the one side of each of the first guide rollers (110), and a second extension rod (113B) protruding toward the another side of each of the first guide rollers (110).
  5. The pouch film supply device (100, 100') of claim 4, wherein the inclination measurement member (130A, 130B) is installed on the second extension rod (113B).
  6. The pouch film supply device (100, 100') of claim 5, wherein the inclination measurement member (130A, 130B) comprises at least one of a first inclination measurement member (130A) configured to measure the vertical inclination of each of the first guide rollers (110) and a second inclination measurement member (130B) configured to measure the horizontal inclination of each of the first guide rollers (110).
  7. The pouch film supply device (100, 100') of claim 1, further comprising a support frame (150) installed below the first guide rollers (110) to be parallel with a direction in which the first guide rollers (110) extend, wherein one side of the support frame (150) is fixedly supported on the same side as the one side of each of the first guide rollers (110) and another side of the support frame (150) supports the another side of each of the first guide rollers (110).
  8. The pouch film supply device (100, 100') of claim 7, wherein the inclination adjustment member is installed on the another side of the support frame (150).
  9. The pouch film supply device (100, 100') of claim 8, wherein an upward extension part (152, 153) bent upward toward the first guide rollers (110) is provided at an end of the another side of the support frame (150), and an installation groove (154) in which an extension rod of each of the first guide rollers (110) is placed is provided in an upper portion of the upward extension part (152, 153).
  10. The pouch film supply device (100, 100') of claim 9, wherein a height adjustment bolt (140A) is installed to support the end of the another side of the each of the first guide rollers (110) vertically by being passed through the upward extension part (152, 153) below the installation groove (154), the height adjustment bolt (140A) being configured to adjust a height.
  11. The pouch film supply device (100, 100') of claim 9, wherein a horizontal inclination adjustment bolt (140B) is installed to support the end of the another side of the each of the first guide rollers (110) horizontally by being passed through upward extension part (152, 153) side walls at left and right sides of the installation groove (154), the horizontal inclination adjustment bolt (140B) being configured to adjust a position horizontally.
  12. The pouch film supply device (100, 100') of claim 1, further comprising: a monitoring part (170) coupled to the inclination measurement member (130A, 130B) and configured to monitor at least one of a vertical inclination or horizontal inclination of each of the first guide rollers (110) measured by the inclination measurement member (130A, 130B); and an inclination adjustment member (140A, 140B) configured to adjusting at least one of the vertical inclination or the horizontal inclination of each of the first guide rollers (110), wherein, when a vertical inclination or horizontal inclination of each of the first guide rollers (110) monitored by the monitoring part (170) is out of a set range, at least one of the vertical inclination or the horizontal inclination of each of the first guide rollers (110) is adjustable by the inclination adjustment member.
  13. The pouch film supply device (100, 100') of any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising: a lift frame (181) on which the one side of at least one of the plurality of first guide rollers (110) is fixedly supported; a driving part configured to move the lift frame (181) up or down; and a lift guide (183) extending vertically and configured to guide a upward or downward movement of the lift frame (181), wherein a vertical distance between the first and second guide rollers (120) is changed by moving the lift frame (181) up or down to adjust a length of the pouch film guided between the first and second guide rollers (120).
  14. The pouch film supply device (100, 100') of claim 13, wherein a driving path of the pouch film guided between the first and second guide rollers (110, 120) is increased by increasing the vertical distance between the first and second guide rollers (110, 120) by lifting the lift frame (181) by a controller (190), when a process after the pouch film outlet is interrupted or delayed.

Description

[Technical Field] The present invention relates to a pouch film supply device for secondary batteries. More specifically, the present invention relates to a pouch film supply device for measuring and managing inclinations of guide rollers guiding a pouch film and adjusting the inclinations when necessary to prevent the pouch film from being meandered. This application claims the benefit of priority based on Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0166330, filed on December 2, 2022. [Background Art] A pouch type secondary battery is manufactured by accommodating an electrode assembly in a pouch type battery case obtained by molding a pouch film. The pouch type battery case is easily deformable and thus may be manufactured in various forms, and is light in weight, thus increasing energy density per weight of the battery. The pouch film may include an outer sheath layer, a metal barrier layer, and an inner sealant layer. The relevant prior art for the present invention is given by Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2022-0092310 and the documents US 10 017 348 B2 and US 6 752 915 B2. In particular, document US 10 017 346 B2 discloses a film supply device for a secondary battery, comprising a plurality of first guide rollers installed between a film inlet (i.e an entry zone) and a film outlet (i.e an exit zone) to be spaced apart from each other, and configured to guide a film, wherein one side of each of the plurality of first guide rollers is fixedly supported; a plurality of second guide rollers installed below the plurality of first guide rollers between the film inlet and the film outlet to be spaced apart from each other, and configured to guide the film; and an inclination measurement member provided on another side of each of the first guide rollers to measure at least one of a vertical inclination and a horizontal inclination of each of the first guide rollers. FIG. 1 illustrates a general pouch type battery case molding device. As shown in FIG. 1, a pouch film 1 is supplied to a pouch molding part 20 by a pouch film supply device 10 equipped with a plurality of guide rollers R1, R2, and R3, and is formed as a pouch type case 2 of a certain form by the pouch forming part 20. To improve the accuracy of processing the pouch type case 2 by the pouch forming part 20, the pouch film 1 to be supplied to the pouch forming part 20 should maintain a correct path while driving. When the pouch film 1 is driven meanderingly, a defect may occur in the pouch type case 2 processed by the pouch forming part 20. However, among the plurality of guide rollers of the pouch film supply device 10, an upper guide roller is a cantilever type guide roller, only one side of which is fixedly supported and thus another side thereof that is not fixedly supported may sag downward. Otherwise, a direction in which the guide rollers extend may be slanted to the left or right. That is, the guide rollers may be inclined vertically or horizontally and degrees of inclination thereof are slightly different from each other. In this case, a driving path of the pouch film 1 guided along the plurality of guide rollers is not uniform. As a result, the pouch film supplied through the pouch film supply device 10 is driven meanderingly, thus increasing a possibility that a defect will occur in the pouch forming part 20. Meanwhile, a series of pouch film processing processes may be interrupted due to an event occurring in a cutting part or a forming part below the pouch film supply device. Otherwise, the processing processes may be stopped to replace a pouch film with another. In this case, all subsequent pouch film supply processes are stopped and thus work productivity decreases. In this case, when a sufficient driving path of the pouch film is secured by the pouch film supply device, a maintenance time or a time required to replace the pouch film, which corresponds to a time required for the driving of the pouch film, can be secured in a subsequent process even when an event occurs in a subsequent processing process. Therefore, there is a need to develop a technique for managing inclinations of guide rollers or adjusting the inclinations to be the same by a pouch film supply device. In addition, there is a need to develop a technique for securing continuity of subsequent processes to increase work productivity even when part of pouch film supply and processing processes is stopped. [Disclosure] [Technical Problem] To address the above-described problems, the present invention is directed to managing inclinations of guide rollers guiding a pouch film by measuring and monitoring the inclinations of the guide rollers to prevent the pouch film from being driven meanderingly. The present invention is also directed to providing a pouch film supply device capable of reliably preventing a pouch film from being driven meanderingly by adjusting inclinations of guide rollers on the basis of measured inclinations. The present invention is also directed