KR-20260062314-A - BATTERY INSPECTION APPARATUS AND METHOD

KR20260062314AKR 20260062314 AKR20260062314 AKR 20260062314AKR-20260062314-A

Abstract

A battery inspection device according to one embodiment of the present invention, as a battery inspection device for inspecting a battery including an electrode assembly, may include at least one processor; and a memory for storing at least one instruction executed through the at least one processor. The above at least one command may include: a command to acquire a vertical cross-sectional image of the battery; a command to define a Region of Interest (ROI) in the vertical cross-sectional image, which includes an end region of the electrode assembly; a command to calculate a gray value by height for the ROI; and a command to determine the position of the electrode end based on the rate of change of the gray value.

Inventors

이대원
김태영
이승은

Assignees

주식회사 엘지에너지솔루션

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20241029

Claims (18)

As a battery inspection device for inspecting a battery including an electrode assembly, At least one processor; and It includes a memory that stores at least one instruction executed through the above-mentioned at least one processor, and The above at least one command is, A command to acquire a vertical cross-sectional image of the above battery; A command defining a Region of Interest (ROI) that includes the end region of the electrode assembly in the above vertical cross-sectional image; A command to calculate a gray value by height for the above ROI; and A battery inspection device comprising a command to determine the position of an electrode end based on the rate of change of the above grayscale.
In claim 1, The command for determining the position of the electrode end is, A battery inspection device comprising a command to determine the position of the electrode end at a height indicating the maximum rate of change within a preset range.
In claim 2, The command for determining the position of the electrode end is, A command to determine the position of the first electrode end as the first height representing the maximum rate of change within the first grayscale range; and A battery inspection device comprising a command to determine the position of the second electrode end of a second height that represents the maximum rate of change within a second grayscale range.
In claim 2, The command for determining the position of the electrode end is, A command to determine the position of the first electrode end of the first height, which represents the maximum rate of change within the first height range; and A battery inspection device comprising a command to determine the position of the second electrode end of a second height that represents the maximum rate of change within a second height range.
In claim 2, The command for determining the position of the electrode end is, A command to determine the position of the first electrode end as the first height representing the maximum rate of change within the entire height range; A command to check the rate of change of grayscale from a height spaced upward by a set distance from the first height; and A battery inspection device comprising a command to determine the position of the second electrode end as the second height representing the maximum rate of change among the rates of change of grayscale confirmed.
In any one of claims 3 to 5, The above at least one command is, A command to calculate the separation distance between the position of the first electrode end and the position of the second electrode end; and A battery inspection device further comprising a command to determine whether the electrode assembly is defective based on whether the above separation distance exceeds a critical distance.
In claim 1, The command defining the above ROI is, A battery inspection device comprising a command defining a plurality of ROIs corresponding to each of the turns of the electrode assembly.
In claim 7, The above at least one command is, A battery inspection device further comprising a command to determine whether the electrode assembly has a meandering defect based on the positions of the electrode ends determined for each of the plurality of ROIs.
In claim 8, A command for determining whether there is a meandering defect in the above electrode assembly is, For each of the plurality of ROIs above, a command to calculate the separation distance between the position of the first electrode end and the position of the second electrode end; and A battery inspection device comprising a command to determine whether the electrode assembly has a meandering defect based on the number of turns in which the above separation distance exceeds a critical distance.
As a battery inspection method using a battery inspection device, A step of obtaining a vertical cross-sectional image of the battery; A step of defining a Region of Interest (ROI) that includes the end region of the electrode assembly in the above vertical cross-sectional image; For the above ROI, a step of calculating a gray value by height; and A battery inspection method comprising the step of determining the position of the electrode end based on the rate of change of the grayscale.
In claim 10, The step of determining the position of the electrode end is, A battery inspection method comprising the step of determining the position of the electrode end at a height indicating the maximum rate of change within a preset range.
In claim 11, The step of determining the position of the electrode end is, A step of determining the position of the first electrode end as the first height exhibiting the maximum rate of change within the first grayscale range; and A battery inspection method comprising the step of determining the position of the second electrode end of a second height that represents the maximum rate of change within a second grayscale range.
In claim 11, The step of determining the position of the electrode end is, A step of determining the first height, which represents the maximum rate of change within the first height range, as the position of the first electrode end; and A battery inspection method comprising the step of determining a second height, which represents the maximum rate of change within a second height range, as the position of a second electrode end.
In claim 11, The step of determining the position of the electrode end is, A step of determining the position of the first electrode end as the first height that represents the maximum rate of change within the entire height range; A step of checking the rate of change of grayscale from a height spaced upward by a set distance from the first height; and A battery inspection method comprising the step of determining a second height, which represents the maximum rate of change among the rates of change of grayness confirmed, as the position of the second electrode end.
In any one of claims 12 to 14, A step of calculating the separation distance between the position of the first electrode end and the position of the second electrode end; and A battery inspection method further comprising the step of determining whether the electrode assembly is defective based on whether the above separation distance exceeds a critical distance.
In claim 10, The step of defining the above ROI is, A battery inspection method comprising the step of defining a plurality of ROIs corresponding to each of the turns of the electrode assembly.
In claim 16, A battery inspection method further comprising the step of determining whether the electrode assembly has a meandering defect based on the positions of the electrode ends determined for each of the plurality of ROIs.
In claim 17, The step of determining whether there is a meandering defect in the above electrode assembly is, For each of the plurality of ROIs, a step of calculating a separation distance between the position of a first electrode end and the position of a second electrode end; and A battery inspection method comprising the step of determining whether there is a meandering defect in the electrode assembly based on the number of turns in which the above separation distance exceeds a critical distance.

Description

Battery Inspection Apparatus and Method The present invention relates to a battery inspection device and method, and more specifically, to a battery inspection device and method capable of determining whether an electrode assembly is defective using a vertical cross-sectional image of a battery. Secondary batteries are batteries that can be reused through charging even after discharge, and can be used as an energy source for small devices such as mobile phones, tablet PCs, and vacuum cleaners, and are also used as an energy source for medium and large devices such as automobiles and Energy Storage Systems (ESS) for smart grids. Secondary batteries can be classified into can-type batteries, in which the electrode assembly is housed in a cylindrical metal can, and pouch-type batteries, in which the electrode assembly is housed in a pouch-type case. Generally, cylindrical can-type batteries are known to have relatively high capacity and structural stability. A jelly roll structure electrode assembly embedded in a cylindrical battery can be manufactured by winding a laminate, in which a positive electrode sheet, a separator, and a negative electrode sheet are sequentially stacked, for a certain number of winding turns. During the process of transporting the laminate (positive electrode, separator, negative electrode) in a roll-to-roll manner to manufacture the jelly roll electrode assembly, if the laminate travels in a meandering manner, the positive or negative end of the finished jelly roll electrode assembly may not be flat with respect to the horizontal direction and a height difference may occur. Generally, image-based defect inspection technology using X-ray images is utilized to determine meandering defects in such electrode structures; however, this conventional inspection technology has limitations in terms of inspection accuracy and speed. Figure 1 shows the appearance of a battery according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 shows the structure of a wound electrode assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows the appearance of a wound electrode assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a battery inspection system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the operation sequence of a battery inspection method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 6 to 10 are reference drawings for explaining a battery inspection method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the operation of a battery inspection method according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 12 and 13 are reference diagrams for explaining a battery inspection method according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a battery inspection device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The present invention is susceptible to various modifications and may have various embodiments; specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the invention to specific embodiments, and it should be understood that the invention includes all modifications, equivalents, and substitutions that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention. Similar reference numerals have been used for similar components in the description of each drawing. Terms such as first, second, A, B, etc., may be used to describe various components, but said components shall not be limited by said terms. These terms are used solely for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be named the second component, and similarly, the second component may be named the first component. The term "and/or" includes a combination of a plurality of related described items or any of a plurality of related described items. When it is stated that one component is "connected" or "connected" to another component, it should be understood that while it may be directly connected or connected to that other component, there may also be other components in between. On the other hand, when it is stated that one component is "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there are no other components in between. The terms used in this application are used merely to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention. The singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, terms such as "comprising" or "having" are intended to specify the presence of the features, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, and should be understood as not precluding the existence or add