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EP-4735203-A1 - CLAMPING ARRAY AND METHOD FOR HOLDING DOWN JOINING PAIRS IN INTEGRAL JOINING PROCESSES BY MEANS OF ONE OR MORE CLAMPING ARRAYS

EP4735203A1EP 4735203 A1EP4735203 A1EP 4735203A1EP-4735203-A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a clamping array (10), comprising hold-down systems (12) for joining pairs (32) of a workpiece (36) in integral joining processes. The hold-down systems (12) each comprise at least one clamping element (20), at least one actuator (22) for controllably holding down the joining pair (32) by means of the at least one clamping element (20), and at least one individual hold-down mask (24) or a hold-down mask connected to the at least one clamping element (20). The hold-down systems (12) are smaller in a spatial direction X (14) than in the two other spatial directions Y-Z (15), specifically with an expansion in spatial direction X (14) which is at most half the greatest expansion in spatial directions Y-Z. In addition, the hold-down systems (12) are individually actuatable and individually controllable in terms of force or travel, and the clamping array (10) itself has, as a whole or within each of the hold-down systems (12), a suction means (28). The invention also relates to methods for holding down joining pairs (32) in integral joining processes using one or more clamping arrays (10) according to the invention, and to the use of the clamping array (10) according to the invention consisting of hold-down systems (12).

Inventors

  • WESTER, STEFFEN
  • Heeling, Thorsten
  • LEIMSER, MARKUS

Assignees

  • Robert Bosch GmbH

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240625

Claims (15)

  1. 1. Clamping array (10) comprising hold-down systems (12) for joining pairs (32) of a workpiece (36) during material-to-material joining processes, in particular welding processes, the hold-down systems (12) each comprising at least one clamping element (20), at least one actuator (22) for controllably holding down the joining pair (32) by means of the at least one clamping element (20), at least one individual hold-down mask or one hold-down mask connected to the at least one clamping element (20), wherein the hold-down systems (12) are designed to be smaller in one spatial direction X (14) than along the other two spatial directions Y-Z (15), namely with an extension in the spatial direction X (14) which is at most half of the largest extension in the spatial direction Y-Z (15), preferably at most one third; the hold-down systems (12) can be controlled individually and can be individually controlled in terms of force or displacement; and the clamping array (10) itself as a whole or within each of the hold-down systems (12) has a suction device (28).
  2. 2. Clamping array (10) comprising hold-down systems (12) according to claim 1, wherein the hold-down systems (12) are positioned arbitrarily relative to one another along the spatial direction X (14).
  3. 3. Method for holding down joining pairs (32) during material-to-material joining processes, in particular welding processes, using one or more clamping arrays (10) according to one of claims 1 or 2, comprising positioning the clamping array (10) and joining pairs (32), holding down and material-to-material joining.
  4. 4. Method for holding down joining pairs (32) during material-bonded joining processes, in particular welding processes, according to claim 3, wherein at least two clamping arrays (10) according to one of claims 1 or 2 are used.
  5. 5. Method for holding down joining pairs (32) during material-bonded joining processes, in particular welding processes, according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the workpiece (36) is stationary and the clamping array(s) (10) and one or more joining modules (42) are moved over the workpiece (36) for processing.
  6. 6. Method for holding down joining pairs (32) during material-bonded joining processes, in particular welding processes, according to one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the clamping arrays (10) are moved individually.
  7. 7. Method for holding down joining pairs (32) during material-bonded joining processes, in particular welding processes, according to one of claims 3 or 4, wherein the clamping array(s) (10) and one or more joining modules (42) are stationary and the workpiece (36) is moved for processing.
  8. 8. Method for holding down joining pairs (32) during material-locking joining processes, in particular welding processes, according to one of claims 3 or 4, wherein the workpiece (36) and the clamping array(s) (10) are moved together during the joining process and are then moved individually into new positions.
  9. 9. Method for holding down joining pairs (32) during material-bonded joining processes, in particular welding processes, according to one of claims 3 to 8, wherein the hold-down systems (12) of the clamping arrays (10) either all clamp or relax simultaneously in groups, array-wise or individually.
  10. 10. Method for holding down joining pairs (32) during material-locking joining processes, in particular welding processes, according to one of claims 3 to 9, wherein parallelization is carried out by at least one another clamping array (10) or a workpiece (36) is moved to a new position.
  11. 11. Method for holding down joining pairs (32) during material-bonded joining processes, in particular welding processes, according to one of claims 3 to 10, wherein the sequence of the hold-down positions (13) is freely designed.
  12. 12. Use of the clamping array (10) from hold-down systems (12) according to one of claims 1 or 2 for producing at least five material-locking connections, preferably at least 10 material-locking connections, in particular at least 100 material-locking connections between joining pairs (32) within a workpiece (36).
  13. 13. Use of the clamping array (10) from hold-down systems (12) according to one of claims 1 or 2 for producing material-locking connections between flexible joining partners (33) with wall thicknesses of less than 3 mm, preferably less than 2 mm, particularly preferably 0.1 mm - 2 mm.
  14. 14. Use of the clamping array (10) from hold-down systems (12) according to one of claims 1 or 2 for producing material-locking connections between joining partners (33), wherein material-locking joining is carried out by means of laser welding and laser optics (46), preferably a galvo scanner system.
  15. 15. Use of the clamping array (10) from hold-down systems (12) according to one of claims 1 or 2 for the material-locking joining, in particular welding, in particular laser welding, of connectors (38), in particular cell connectors (39) for battery cells (37) or battery modules.

Description

Clamping array and method for holding down joining pairs during material-locking joining processes by means of one or more clamping arrays technical field The present invention relates to a clamping array with hold-down systems for joining pairs of a workpiece during material-bonded joining processes. The hold-down systems each comprise at least one clamping element, at least one actuator for controllably holding down the joining pair by means of the at least one clamping element, at least one individual hold-down mask or one hold-down mask connected to the at least one clamping element. In addition, the invention relates to methods for holding down joining pairs during material-bonded joining processes using one or more clamping arrays according to the invention, as well as the use of the clamping array according to the invention from hold-down systems. State of the art Various devices and processes for material-locking joining processes of joining pairs are known in the literature, including laser welding of battery cell connectors. In order to ensure the quality of the joining processes, the joining partner must be held down on the joint and thus clamped. Complete masks with or without over-springing are usually used to clamp the connectors with the cells. However, with increasing material thicknesses and the resulting necessary hold-down forces, as well as increasing number of rows per module and one-sided position of both poles, this type of clamping is generally no longer usable. Likewise, high cell height tolerances have a negative effect on a homogeneous distribution of the clamping forces. Clamping all joints of a system at the same time can lead to very high forces that are detrimental to the system technology and the workpiece (e.g. the battery cell). Therefore, individual hold-down systems are being developed to hold down the cell connectors of each cell individually. However, this requires constant repositioning of the hold-downs, which increases the idle time. Parallelization using hold-downs that can be positioned individually in XYZ directions is possible, but leads to high challenges in terms of coordination, kinematics and vibration damping. What they all have in common is the need to minimize wear on the hold-down and emission agglomerations in order to maximize the service life of the tools. This often leads to hold-down geometries that do not allow adjacent cells to be clamped at the same time. WO 2021 138 706 A1 discloses a clamping device for clamping at least one cell for storing electrical energy, comprising a hold-down device with which a cell connector can be applied to the cell or cells at least in some areas without a gap. A separate hold-down device is provided for each cell, wherein the hold-down device or devices can be clamped against the cell or cells. DE 10 2014 110 915 A1 relates to a hold-down device for holding a workpiece during a joining process, with a contact surface for applying a contact pressure to the workpiece and with a measuring electrode arranged in the contact surface for carrying out a resistance measurement. Furthermore, a welding device for laser welding or ultrasonic welding with such a hold-down device is disclosed. The invention described here addresses the challenges mentioned and shows a way to minimize idle times during individual clamping of single joints through a new approach to the configuration of hold-down systems. disclosure of the invention According to the invention, a clamping array with hold-down systems for joining pairs of a workpiece in material-locking joining processes, in particular welding processes, is proposed. The hold-down systems each comprise at least one clamping element, at least one actuator for the controllable holding down of the joining pair by means of the at least one clamping element, at least one individual hold-down mask or one hold-down mask connected to the at least one clamping element. The hold-down systems are designed to be smaller in one spatial direction X than along the other two spatial directions YZ, namely with an extension in the spatial direction X that is a maximum of half of the largest extension in the spatial direction YZ, preferably a maximum of a third. In addition, the hold-down systems can be controlled individually and individually regulated in terms of force or displacement, and the clamping array itself has an extraction system as a whole or within each of the hold-down systems. Hold-down devices are generally known in the field and are used, for example, in material-bonded joining processes to bring the components to be joined (joining pairs) into contact with one another during the process, i.e. to hold them down together. In a clamping array according to the invention, several hold-down systems are arranged together and can be controlled together or individually, so that the respective hold-down of the individual hold-down devices can be specially designed by force and/or path control