KR-20260066632-A - ELECTRODE ASSEMBLY, APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ELECTRODE ASSEMBLY, APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING HALF CELL SHEET, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING ELECTRODE ASSEMBLY

KR20260066632AKR 20260066632 AKR20260066632 AKR 20260066632AKR-20260066632-A

Abstract

An electrode assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a first electrode half-cell sheet folded in a zigzag pattern and a second electrode plate interposed between the folded first electrode half-cell sheets, wherein the first electrode half-cell sheet has a separator sheet attached to the upper and lower surfaces of a sheet-shaped first electrode, and each of the folded regions of the first electrode half-cell sheet includes a dotted line-shaped cut line along the longitudinal direction of the electrode assembly, and the sheet-shaped first electrode and the separator sheet penetrate through the cut line, and the sheet-shaped first electrode and the second electrode plate may have different polarities.

Inventors

금동연
김정원
배승우
백주환
우민기
윤성재
정도환

Assignees

주식회사 엘지에너지솔루션

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20251030
Priority Date: 20241104

Claims (20)

A first electrode half-cell sheet folded in a zigzag; and It includes a second electrode plate interposed between the folded first electrode half-cell sheets, and The first electrode half-cell sheet has a separator sheet attached to the upper and lower surfaces of the sheet-shaped first electrode, respectively. Each of the folded regions of the first electrode half-cell sheet includes a dotted line-shaped cut line along the longitudinal direction of the electrode assembly, and the sheet-shaped first electrode and the separator sheet are penetrated through the cut line. The first electrode in the form of a sheet and the second electrode plate have different polarities, forming an electrode assembly.
In paragraph 1, An electrode assembly having a structure in which the second electrode plate is alternately provided on one side and the other side of the electrode assembly between the first electrode half-cell sheets folded above.
In paragraph 1, An electrode assembly in which, when viewed from one side of the electrode assembly, the separator sheet and the second electrode plate are alternately stacked, and each of the folded regions of the separator sheet includes the dotted line-shaped cut line.
In paragraph 1, An electrode assembly further comprising a fold line in which the first electrode in the form of a sheet is pressed in each of the folded regions of the first electrode half-cell sheet.
In paragraph 4, An electrode assembly in which the dotted cut line of the first electrode half-cell sheet and the fold line of the first electrode in the sheet form coincide with each other.
As an electrode assembly in which a negative plate and a positive plate are alternately arranged between zigzag-folded separator sheets, An electrode assembly having a dotted line-shaped cut line along the longitudinal direction of the electrode assembly in each of the folded regions of the separator sheet, and the separator sheet penetrating through the cut line.
In paragraph 6, An electrode assembly in which, when viewed from either of the two sides of the electrode assembly, either the negative plate and the positive plate are laminated between the separator sheets, and each of the folded regions of the separator sheets includes the dotted line-shaped cut line.
A first electrode half-cell sheet guide unit that provides a first electrode half-cell sheet in which a separator sheet is combined with the upper and lower surfaces of a first electrode in the form of a sheet, respectively; A stack unit in which a second electrode plate is interposed between folded first electrode half-cell sheets to form an electrode assembly; and It includes a pair of second electrode supply units disposed on both sides of the stack unit and alternately providing the second electrode plates, and Each of the folded regions of the first electrode half-cell sheet includes a dotted line-shaped cut line along the longitudinal direction of the electrode assembly, and the sheet-shaped first electrode and the separator sheet are penetrated through the cut line. An electrode assembly manufacturing device in which the first electrode in the form of a sheet and the second electrode plate have different polarities.
In paragraph 8, An electrode assembly manufacturing apparatus in which each of the above pair of second electrode supply units alternately provides the second electrode plate between the folded first electrode half-cell sheets on one side and the other side of the electrode assembly, respectively.
In paragraph 8, (S1) A process in which the first electrode half-cell sheet is placed on the stack unit while extending in one direction; (S2) A process in which the second electrode plate provided from the other side of the stack unit is placed on the first electrode half-cell sheet of the stack unit; (S3) A process in which the first electrode half-cell sheet is placed on the stack unit while extending in the other direction; and (S4) An electrode assembly manufacturing apparatus in which the process of placing the second electrode plate provided from one side of the stack unit onto the first electrode half-cell sheet of the stack unit is performed in sequence.
In Paragraph 10, The above processes (S1) to (S4) are repeated in a plurality of cycles, in an electrode assembly manufacturing apparatus.
In paragraph 8, After the first electrode half-cell sheet is extended in one direction and seated on the stack unit, the second electrode plate is provided from a second electrode supply unit located on the other side of the stack unit and seated on the first electrode half-cell sheet on the stack unit. An electrode assembly manufacturing apparatus in which, after the first electrode half-cell sheet is extended and seated in the other direction, the second electrode plate is provided from a second electrode supply unit located on one side of the stack unit and seated on the first electrode half-cell sheet on the stack unit.
In Paragraph 12, When the first electrode half-cell sheet is extended in the other direction, the first electrode half-cell sheet is folded at one side of the electrode assembly and covers the second electrode plate, An electrode assembly manufacturing device in which, when the first electrode half-cell sheet is extended in the direction of the first side, the first electrode half-cell sheet is folded at the other side of the electrode assembly and covers the second electrode plate.
In paragraph 8, An electrode assembly manufacturing apparatus further comprising a dotted line cutting unit disposed at the front end of a first electrode half-cell sheet guide unit and forming the dotted line-shaped incision line at predetermined intervals on the first electrode half-cell sheet.
In Paragraph 14, The above dotted line cutting unit includes a plurality of cutting knives, and An electrode assembly manufacturing device in which the plurality of cutting knives are arranged in a row along the width direction of the first electrode half-cell sheet and spaced apart by a predetermined distance between adjacent cutting knives.
A lamination unit that forms a first electrode half-cell sheet by combining separator sheets on the upper and lower surfaces of a first electrode in the form of a sheet, respectively; and It includes a dotted line cutting unit disposed at the rear end of the lamination unit and forming dotted line-shaped incision lines on the first electrode half-cell sheet at predetermined intervals, A first electrode half-cell sheet manufacturing apparatus in which the first electrode in the form of a sheet and the separator sheet are penetrated through the above-mentioned incision line.
In Paragraph 16, The above dotted line cutting unit includes a plurality of cutting knives, and A first electrode half-cell sheet manufacturing apparatus in which the plurality of cutting knives are arranged in a line along a direction orthogonal to the direction of travel of the first electrode half-cell sheet and spaced apart by a predetermined distance between adjacent cutting knives.
In Paragraph 16, It further includes a bending unit disposed at the front end of the lamination unit and forming bending lines at predetermined intervals on the sheet-shaped first electrode, A first electrode half-cell sheet manufacturing device, wherein the above-mentioned bending line is a portion in which the thickness of the first electrode in the form of a sheet is relatively thinned by pressing the first electrode in the form of a sheet by the bending unit.
In Paragraph 18, The above bending unit includes a bending knife that forms the bending line, and A first electrode half-cell sheet manufacturing device in which the above-mentioned folding knife is arranged in the width direction of the first electrode in the sheet shape.
In Paragraph 18, A first electrode half-cell sheet manufacturing apparatus in which the dotted line-shaped cut line of the first electrode half-cell sheet and the fold line of the first electrode sheet-shaped sheet coincide with each other.

Description

Electrode assembly, apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly, apparatus for manufacturing a half-cell sheet, and method for manufacturing an electrode assembly Cross-citation with related application(s) This application claims the benefit of priority based on Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0154614 filed November 4, 2024, and all contents disclosed in the document of said Korean patent application are incorporated herein as part of this specification. The present invention relates to an electrode assembly, an apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly, an apparatus for manufacturing a half-cell sheet, and a method for manufacturing an electrode assembly. More specifically, the invention relates to providing an apparatus for manufacturing an electrode assembly and a method for manufacturing an electrode assembly with improved productivity, and to providing an electrode assembly with improved electrode quality. In modern society, as the use of portable devices such as mobile phones, laptops, camcorders, and digital cameras, as well as energy storage systems (ESS), has become commonplace, the development of technologies in related fields is becoming active. Furthermore, rechargeable secondary batteries are being utilized as power sources for electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (P-HEVs) as a solution to address air pollution caused by conventional gasoline vehicles using fossil fuels; consequently, the need for the development of secondary batteries is increasing. Currently commercialized rechargeable batteries include nickel-cadmium, nickel-hydrogen, nickel-zinc, and lithium-ion batteries. Among these, lithium-ion batteries are receiving the most attention due to their advantages of free charging and discharging, low self-discharge rate, and high energy density. These lithium secondary batteries primarily use lithium-based oxides and carbon materials as the positive and negative active materials, respectively. The lithium secondary battery comprises an electrode assembly in which a positive plate and a negative plate, each coated with the positive and negative active materials, are arranged with a separator in between, and an outer casing, namely a battery case, that seals and houses the electrode assembly together with an electrolyte. Such electrode assemblies may consist of a jelly-roll type assembly having a structure in which a separator is interposed between sheet-type anodes and cathodes and then wound, a stack type assembly consisting of unit cells having a structure in which rectangular anodes and cathodes are stacked with a separator interposed between them, a stack-folding type assembly in which unit cells are wound by a long separating film, or a lamination-stack type assembly in which unit cells are stacked with a separator interposed between them and attached to one another. Among these, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a process for manufacturing an electrode assembly using conventional zigzag stacking. First, referring to FIG. 1, a negative plate (1) is manufactured by cutting a negative sheet into cell units, and a positive plate (2) is manufactured by cutting an positive sheet into cell units likewise. A plurality of negative plates (1) and a plurality of positive plates (2) are each loaded into a storage unit. Referring to FIG. 2, a separator sheet (3) is provided on a stack unit (4) in a zigzag folded manner, and a negative plate (1) and a positive plate (2) with different polarities are alternately provided on both sides with the stack unit (4) in between. In a method in which one negative plate (1) and one positive plate (2) with different polarities are alternately inserted from each side into the separator sheet (3) that is folded in a zigzag manner, one negative plate (1) and one positive plate (2) are supplied for each cycle in which the separator sheet (3) is extended to one side, folded, and then extended to the other side. Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and method for manufacturing an electrode assembly with improved quality while further enhancing the productivity of the electrode assembly compared to such conventional technology. FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a process for manufacturing an electrode assembly using conventional zigzag stacking. FIG. 3 illustrates an electrode assembly manufacturing apparatus (100) according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 illustrates a first electrode half-cell sheet manufacturing apparatus (200) according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a reference drawing of FIG. 4 and shows a dotted line cutting unit (210), which is a component of the first electrode half-cell sheet manufacturing device (200) of FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a reference drawing of FIG. 4 and illustrates a folding unit (230), which is a component of the first electrode half-cell sheet manufacturing device (200) of FIG. 4. FIG. 7 illustrates a method of manufacturing a s