US-20260128273-A1 - LAMINATING APPARATUS FOR LAMINATING MULTILAYER ENDLESS WEBS FOR PRODUCING ENERGY CELLS

US20260128273A1US 20260128273 A1US20260128273 A1US 20260128273A1US-20260128273-A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a laminating apparatus for a multilayer endless web, which is made of at least one separator web and at least one electrode, for producing energy cells, comprising a pressing device which laminates the multilayer endless web while exerting a compressive force. The pressing device has a pressing surface with at least one recess which is arranged such that when the compressive force is being exerted via the pressing surface, the recess overlaps with at least one of the edges of the electrodes.

Inventors

Michael Kleine Wächter
Manfred Folger
Dennis Springborn

Assignees

KÖRBER TECHNOLOGIES GMBH

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20231017
Priority Date: 20221025

Claims (19)

1 . A laminating apparatus for a multilayer endless web made up of at least one separator web and at least one electrode for producing energy cells, having a pressing device that laminates the multilayer endless web while exerting a compressive force, wherein the pressing device has a pressing surface with at least one recess, which is arranged such that when the compressive force is exerted via the pressing surface, it overlaps with at least one of the edges of the electrodes, wherein at least one first and one second recess are provided on the pressing surface, which extend in the longitudinal direction of the endless web and are arranged at a distance from each other that is smaller than the distance between the edge sides of the electrode extending in the longitudinal direction of the endless web.
2 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the pressing device laminates the multilayer endless web by applying heat.
3 . (canceled)
4 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of electrodes arranged regularly at distances from each other are provided in the endless web, and at least one third recess and one fourth recess are provided on the pressing surface, and the fourth recess has a smaller distance from the third recess than the length of the electrodes in the longitudinal direction of the endless web.
5 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the first recess, the second recess, the third recess and the fourth recess can be shaped and arranged such that they complement each other to form a recess, the shape of which corresponds to the outer edge of the electrodes.
6 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the pressing device comprises two press rollers with a circular cross section, which are arranged such that between their lateral surfaces a gap is provided through which the endless web runs.
7 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the gap has a gap width which is smaller than the thickness of the endless web.
8 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the first recess and/or the second recess and/or the third recess and/or the fourth recess are arranged on a portion of the lateral surface(s) of one or both of the press rollers.
9 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the first recess and the second recess are arranged on the edge sides of the lateral surface.
10 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the third recess and the fourth recess are arranged parallel to the axes of rotation of the press rollers, and the third recess and the fourth recess in the spread of the arc length of the lateral surface have a distance from each other which is smaller than the length of the electrodes in the longitudinal direction of the endless web.
11 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the press rollers are arranged such that their axes of rotation are aligned parallel to each other.
12 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the pressing device has at least one pressing belt which is arranged such that it comes into contact with one of the surfaces of the endless web.
13 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the recess(es) is or are arranged on the surface of the pressing belt
14 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein two pressing belts are provided, which are arranged such that between their opposite surfaces facing the endless web a gap is provided through which the endless web runs.
15 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein the gap width of the gap is slightly smaller than the thickness of the endless web.
16 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the pressing device has two oppositely arranged pressing surfaces with which it comes into contact with different sides of the endless web, and first recesses and/or second recesses and/or third recesses and/or fourth recesses are provided on the pressing surfaces, and the first recesses, second recesses, third recesses and/or fourth recesses of the pressing surfaces have different distances from each other and/or different depths and/or different shapes.
17 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the pressing surface is adjustable in width.
18 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the pressing surface has a width which corresponds to the width of the endless web or a multiple thereof.
19 . The laminating apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the press rollers are arranged such that their axes of rotation are aligned parallel to each other.

Description

The present invention relates to a laminating apparatus for laminating multilayer endless webs for producing energy cells having the features of the preamble of claim 1. Energy cells or energy storage devices within the meaning of the invention are used, for example, in motor vehicles, other land vehicles, ships, aircraft or also in stationary systems, such as photovoltaic systems, in the form of battery cells or fuel cells in which very large amounts of energy have to be stored over longer periods of time. For this purpose, such energy cells may have a structure consisting of a plurality of segments stacked to form a stack. These segments are each formed from alternating anode sheets and cathode sheets, which are separated from one another by separator sheets that are also produced as segments. The segments are pre-cut in the production process and then placed on top of each other in the predetermined sequence to form the stacks and joined together by lamination. The anode sheets and cathode sheets are first cut from an endless web and then placed individually at intervals on an endless web of separator material. This subsequently formed “two-ply” endless web made of the separator material with the anode sheets or cathode sheets placed on top is then cut into segments again in a second step by means of a cutting apparatus, wherein the segments in this case are formed in a double layer by a separator sheet with an anode sheet or cathode sheet arranged on top. If this is technically feasible or necessary from a manufacturing perspective, the endless webs of separator material with the anode sheets and cathode sheets placed on top of each other can also be placed on top of each other before cutting, so that an endless web is formed with a first endless layer of separator material with anode sheets or cathode sheets placed thereon and a second endless layer of separator material with anode sheets or cathode sheets placed in turn thereon. This “four-ply” endless web is then cut into segments by means of a cutting apparatus, which segments are in this case formed in four layers with a first separator sheet, an anode sheet, a second separator sheet and a cathode sheet lying thereon. The advantage of this solution is that one cut can be saved. Furthermore, the cut electrodes can also be placed on an endless separator web and stacked on top of each other by another endless separator web to form a three-ply endless web, from which three-ply segments with a separator sheet, an electrode sheet and another separator sheet are then cut. “Segments” within the meaning of this invention are therefore single-ply segments of a separator material, anode material or cathode material, or also two-ply, three-ply or four-ply segments of the structure described above. Furthermore, the “two-ply” or “four-ply” endless webs described above can also be supplemented by placing another separator web on the electrodes to form a “three-ply” or “five-ply” endless web, which then has a separator web on both sides. Alternatively, the electrodes can also be provided as endless webs, i.e. uncut in the “two-ply”, “three-ply”, “four-ply” or “five-ply” endless webs, which are then cut to considerably longer lengths and then wound up, for example. Alternatively, the endless webs can be wound first and then cut after winding is complete. In this case, the electrodes in the endless webs are not present as spaced segments, but instead in a single segment that extends without interruption in the intermediate space between the separator webs. Furthermore, an electrode in the form of a copper web or copper foil or a comparable carrier material with an intermittent coating can also be provided in the endless web, in which the coatings each form sectional, spaced apart elevations in the electrode. To laminate the “two-ply”, “three-ply”, “four-ply” or “five-ply” endless webs, they are passed between two pressing devices which exert a compressive force on the endless webs. The electrodes are compressed with the separator webs in these endless webs. In principle, the electrodes are connected and laminated to the separator webs using a pressing device by exerting the compressive force. In addition, lamination can be assisted by the generation of heat as a result of the compressive force. Furthermore, additional heating or cooling zones can be provided which regulate the temperature of the endless webs during lamination. In order to achieve a high-quality connection, it is desirable that the endless webs are exposed to as equal a compressive force as possible over their longitudinal and transverse extension. One problem here is that the electrode(s) are narrower than the endless web(s) of the separator material, so that the separator material projects laterally beyond the electrode(s). This means that the electrodes have free edges on their edge sides, while the separator material overlaps the electrodes laterally. If the electrodes in the endless webs are alr