CN211866934U

CN211866934U - Welding auxiliary mechanism and welding device

Info

Publication number: CN211866934U
Application number: CN202020036666.3U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 不公告发明人
Original assignee: Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co Ltd
Current assignee: Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-01-08
Filing date: 2020-01-08
Publication date: 2020-11-06
Anticipated expiration: 2030-01-08

Abstract

The application provides a welding auxiliary mechanism and welding set. The welding auxiliary mechanism comprises a mounting seat; the push plate is arranged on the mounting seat in a sliding manner; the driving piece is arranged on the mounting seat, connected with the push plate and used for driving the push plate to be close to or far away from the welding station; when the conductive end of the battery core is located at the welding station, the driving piece drives the push plate to be close to and abut against the conductive end, so that the conductive end is in a pressed state, and an arch structure formed on at least one side of the conductive end can be maintained. In this way, the welding auxiliary mechanism in this application can reduce utmost point ear and take place torn risk in welding process to can improve the yield of battery.

Description

Welding auxiliary mechanism and welding device

Technical Field

The application relates to the field of battery manufacturing, in particular to a welding auxiliary mechanism and a welding device.

Background

The tabs function to conduct current within the cell. One end of a battery core in a general small battery is respectively led out a layer of positive pole lug and a layer of negative pole lug to be used for current conduction, and the battery is called a single pole lug. However, in order to satisfy the effect of large-current charging and discharging, the power battery usually needs to adopt multiple tabs or full tabs.

As shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a battery pole piece in the prior art, and fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a part of a pole piece after being wound into a cell in the prior art. The pole piece 1 is coated with the end part region reserved as the pole lug 2 to be exposed outside, and then the pole lug 2 is die-cut into a required size and shape by laser according to the size requirement. In the process of forming the battery core 2 by the pole piece 1, the tabs 2 positioned on the same side of the pole piece 1 are overlapped for many times in the winding process. The multiple layers of tabs 2 on the battery cell 2 are then welded together in an overlapping manner to form a conductive end 20, which is then welded to a secondary post (not shown) or a top cover.

At present, the electrode lug is generally welded by an ultrasonic welding mode. However, because multilayer utmost point ear 2 can produce deformation during the welding for utmost point ear 2 can have the risk of taking place to tear under receiving deformation stress, can finally influence the yield of battery.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The utility model aims at providing a welding complementary unit and welding set can reduce or avoid the condition that utmost point ear takes place to tear when the welding.

In order to solve the above technical problem, a solution proposed by the present application is:

a welding assist mechanism for assisting in welding of a conductive end of a cell, comprising: a mounting seat; the push plate is arranged on the mounting seat in a sliding manner; the driving piece is arranged on the mounting seat, connected with the push plate and used for driving the push plate to be close to or far away from the welding station; when the conductive end of the battery core is positioned at the welding station, the driving piece drives the push plate to be close to and abut against the conductive end, so that the conductive end is in a pressed state, and an arch structure formed on at least one side of the conductive end can be maintained; the conductive end is formed by winding a tab of the battery cell and comprises a bending area and a welding area; the arched structure is formed by the fact that a bending area on one side of the tab is sunken towards a bending area on the other side of the tab, and is used for offsetting longitudinal deformation of the tab in the welding process.

In an embodiment of the application, a slide rail is arranged on the mounting seat, and a slide block matched with the slide rail is arranged on the push plate; wherein, the extending direction of slide rail is towards welding station.

In an embodiment of the present application, the push plate includes a mounting portion and an abutting portion; the pushing part is connected with the mounting part and used for pushing against the end part of the conductive end of the battery cell; the installation part is provided with a groove for fixing the sliding block, so that the push plate can move along the sliding rail under the action of the driving piece.

In an embodiment of the application, an end of the abutting portion facing the welding station is a plane or has an inwardly recessed notch to accommodate an end of the conductive end.

In an embodiment of this application, still include the connecting block, connecting portion connect respectively the output of driving piece with the push pedal is used for with the drive power of driving piece is followed the output of driving piece is given the push pedal.

In an embodiment of the present application, the display device further includes a first support plate and a second support plate, the first support plate is disposed on the second support plate, and the first support plate can move in a vertical direction relative to the second support plate; the mounting seat is fixedly arranged on the first supporting plate, so that the mounting height of the push plate connected with the mounting seat in the vertical direction can be adjusted.

In an embodiment of the application, the first supporting plate is provided with a waist-shaped hole which is formed in the vertical direction, and a fastener can penetrate through and adjust the fixing position of the fastener on the waist-shaped hole so as to adjust the installation position of the first supporting plate on the second supporting plate.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present application proposes a solution that:

a welding device is used for welding a conductive end of a battery core with a top cover of a battery, and comprises a welding auxiliary mechanism and a welding assembly, wherein the welding assembly is arranged above a welding station and used for welding the conductive end positioned on the welding station so as to fix the conductive end and the top cover; wherein the welding auxiliary mechanism is the welding auxiliary mechanism.

The beneficial effect of this application is: be different from prior art, this application has provided a welding complementary unit and welding set, welding complementary unit in this application can be when utmost point ear welding, exert the effort to the electrically conductive end that forms in electric core, make the domes that form in the bending zone of utmost point ear can maintain, and this domes is when utmost point ear is heated or the impact force takes place to deform, can provide the displacement space for the vertical deformation that utmost point ear self produced, can avoid originally being in utmost point ear under the tensioning condition to take place torn risk in deformation process, thereby can improve the yield of battery.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a prior art battery pole piece construction;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a part of a prior art electrode sheet after being wound into a cell core;

fig. 3 is a partial structural schematic diagram of an end portion of a cell in the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural view of a welding assist mechanism as set forth herein;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the welding assist mechanism of the present application before and after forming the lug;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural view of the forming plate of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a welding apparatus proposed in the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural view of a prismatic aluminum-can cell in the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural view of yet another welding assistance mechanism as set forth herein;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the construction of the pusher plate of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of the weld assist mechanism of FIG. 9 from a left perspective;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a further welding apparatus proposed in the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic flow chart of a welding method proposed by the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below, and it should be understood that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

It is noted that directional terms, such as "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "inner," "outer," "side," and the like, referred to herein are solely for the purpose of reference to the orientation of the appended drawings and, thus, are used for better and clearer illustration and understanding of the present application, and do not indicate or imply that the referenced device or element must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and thus, should not be considered limiting of the present application. The embodiments described below and the features of the embodiments can be combined with each other without conflict.

As shown in fig. 3, fig. 3 is a partial structural schematic diagram of an end portion of a battery cell in the present application. When the tab 20 is welded to form the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10, considering that the thickness of the battery cell 10 is greater than that of the conductive end 11, a thinning process needs to be performed on the multi-layer tab 20, so that the surface of the tab 20 is in a tensioned state. Thus, the tab 20 is further divided into a welding region 22 and a bending region 21, and both ends of the bending region 21 are respectively connected to the end of the battery cell 10 and the welding region 22; the welding region 22 forms the conductive terminal 11 of the cell 10 after being welded. When the welding region 22 of the tab 20 is welded, the welding region 22 is deformed by heat or impact force, so that the bending region 21 is stressed in the longitudinal direction toward the conductive end 11 (as indicated by the straight arrow in fig. 3), thereby making the tab 20 in a tensioned state highly susceptible to tearing.

Based on this, please refer to fig. 4 in combination with fig. 3, and fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a welding auxiliary mechanism according to the present application. The welding assistance mechanism 100 in this embodiment may be used to form an arch structure 23 on at least one side of the bending region 21 of the tab 20 when the welding region 22 of the tab 20 is subjected to a welding process, so as to counteract deformation of the tab 20 during welding.

In this embodiment, the welding assistance mechanism 100 may include a carrier assembly 110 and a forming assembly 120. The bearing assembly 110 is disposed at the welding station 30, and is used for fixing the multilayer tabs 20 of the battery cell 10 during welding; the molding assembly 120 is disposed relative to the carrier assembly 110 and is capable of moving toward or away from the carrier assembly 110.

Further, referring to fig. 5 in conjunction with fig. 4, fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of the welding auxiliary mechanism before and after forming the tab. After the tab 20 is fixed by the carrier assembly 110, the forming assembly 120 may be located on one side of the tab 20 and used to approach and abut against the bending area 21 of the tab 20, so that the bending area 21 on one side of the tab 20 is recessed toward the bending area 21 on the other side, and then an arch structure 23 is formed on the tab 20. The arch 23 serves to counteract longitudinal deformation of the tab 20 during welding.

In the above manner, when welding the multilayer tab 20 of the battery cell 10, the welding auxiliary mechanism 100 in the present application can form the arch structure 23 on the bending region 21 of the tab 20. When electric core 10 was in the level and places, this domes 23 was heated or when the impact force takes place deformation at utmost point ear 20, can provide the displacement space in vertical direction for the vertical deformation that utmost point ear 20 self produced, avoided originally being in utmost point ear 20 under the tensioning condition to take place torn risk in deformation process to can form the yield of battery.

Further, with reference to fig. 4, in an embodiment, the forming assembly 120 may include a forming plate 121 and a supporting plate 122, wherein the forming plate 121 is disposed on the supporting plate 122 and can slide relative to the supporting plate 122, so as to adjust a distance between the forming plate 121 and the supporting assembly 110.

In a specific application scenario, when welding the tab 20 of the battery cell 10, the battery cell 10 is placed in the welding station 30 in a horizontal shape, and the bearing assembly 110 is disposed below the tab 20 and is used for bearing the welding region 22 of the tab 20. The forming plate 121 is arranged below the tab 20 opposite to the bending area 21 of the tab 20 and is adjacent to the bearing assembly 110; the supporting plate 122 is disposed upright so that the forming plate 121 can move in a vertical direction with respect to the supporting plate 122. The distance between the forming plate 121 and the bending region 21 of the tab 20 may be adjusted during the up-and-down sliding of the forming plate 121 with respect to the support plate 122. Therefore, when the forming plate 121 is close to and abutted against the bent region 21 of the tab 20, the lower bent region 21 of the multi-layer tab 20 can be recessed relative to the upper bent region 21, and the arch structure 23 can be formed on the tab 20.

It is considered that the respective positions of the bending region 21 and the welding region 22 of the tab 20 may be changed when different types of tabs 20 are welded. To enhance the applicability of the welding assistance mechanism 100 of the present application, in one embodiment, the forming assembly 120 may further include a horizontal moving plate 123 and a vertical moving plate 124. The vertical moving plate 124 is disposed on the supporting plate 122, the horizontal moving plate 123 is disposed on the vertical moving plate 124, and the forming plate 121 is disposed on the horizontal moving plate 123.

Specifically, the vertical moving plate 124 includes a first section 1241 and a second section 1242 disposed perpendicular to each other. The first section 1241 of the vertical moving plate 124 is arranged on the supporting plate 122 and can move relative to the supporting plate 122, so that the horizontal moving plate 123 and the forming plate 121 thereon can move in the vertical direction; the horizontal moving plate 123 comprises a first section 1232 and a second section 1231, the first section 1232 of the horizontal moving plate 123 is disposed on the second section 1242 of the vertical moving plate 124 and can move in the left-right direction relative to the vertical moving plate 124, so that the forming plate 121 thereon can move in the horizontal direction; the forming plate 121 may be fixedly disposed on the second section 1231 of the horizontal moving plate 123. Therefore, the welding auxiliary mechanism 100 in the present application is provided with the vertical moving plate 124 and the horizontal moving plate 123, and the forming plate 121 can move in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, and can further move close to and abut against the bending area 21 of the tab 20 when the tab 20 is located at the welding station 30; after the welding of the tab 20 is completed, it moves away from the tab 20.

Further, the second section 1242 of the vertical moving plate 124 may be provided with a slide rail 1244, and the first section 1232 of the horizontal moving plate 123 may be provided with a slide groove (not shown) engaged with the slide rail 1244, so that the horizontal moving plate 123 can move on the vertical moving plate 124. In order to limit the movement range of the horizontal moving plate 123 on the vertical moving plate 124, the end of the second section 1242 of the vertical moving plate 124 is further provided with a limiting portion 1243, so that the end of the first section 1232 of the horizontal moving plate 123 can abut against the limiting portion 1243, thereby limiting the movement distance of the horizontal moving plate 123 on the vertical moving plate 124.

Further, when the first section 1241 of the vertical moving plate 124 is slidably connected to the supporting plate 122, it can also be realized by a way of matching a sliding rail with a sliding groove; alternatively, a waist-shaped hole may be formed in the supporting plate 122, and a fastener may be disposed on the vertical moving plate 124, so as to adjust the distance between the forming plate 121 and the bearing assembly 110 by adjusting the fixing position on the waist-shaped hole. It can be understood that, those skilled in the art may adjust the sliding connection manner according to the actual situation, and the details are not repeated herein.

Referring to fig. 6 in conjunction with fig. 4, fig. 6 is a schematic structural view of the forming plate in fig. 4. In one embodiment, the forming plate 121 includes a forming portion 1211 and a mounting portion 1212. The molding portion 1211 is connected to the mounting portion 1212, and an end portion 1214 thereof is provided toward the bent region 21 of the tab 20 when the tab 20 is welded; the mounting portion 1212 is fixed to the second section 1231 of the horizontal moving plate 123 so that the forming plate 121 can follow the horizontal moving plate 123.

Specifically, the mounting portion 1212 is provided with a plurality of mounting holes 1213, and fasteners (not shown) may be used to penetrate through the mounting holes 1213 to secure the mounting portion 1212 to the second section 1231 of the horizontal moving plate 123. The end of the second section 1231 of the horizontal moving plate 123 is disposed toward the carrier assembly 110, and the forming portion 1211 is exposed to the end of the second section 1231 of the horizontal moving portion. Therefore, when the forming plate 121 forms the tab 20, the vertical moving plate 124 can be directly driven to move relative to the supporting plate 122, and then the horizontal moving plate 123 and the forming plate 121 thereon are driven to move close to and abut against the bending region 21 of the tab 20 until the end of the second section 1231 of the horizontal moving plate 123 abuts against the lower end of the bearing assembly 110. That is, the bearing assembly 110 in the present embodiment is equivalent to be able to limit the moving distance of the forming plate 121 in the vertical direction. It can be understood that a person skilled in the art can adjust the installation position of the forming plate 121 on the second section 1231 of the horizontal moving plate 123, so as to adjust the length of the end of the forming portion 1211 exposed to the second section 1231 of the horizontal moving plate 123, so that the forming plate 121 can be adapted to more applications.

Further, considering that the end portion 1214 of the molding portion 1211 is used for contacting the bent region 21 of the tab 20, in order to avoid the surface defects or corners of the molding portion 1211 damaging the tab 20, in an embodiment, the end portion 1214 of the molding portion 1211 is provided with a rounded chamfer. In another embodiment, the end 1214 of the forming plate 121 is also provided with a coating of a lubricious coating, such as a nickel coating. During the formation of the arched structure 23 in the welding zone 22 of the tab 20, the smooth coating can reduce the damage to the surface of the tab 20 and avoid the adhesion with the tab 20.

In one embodiment, the width of the molding portion 1211 is greater than the width of the tab 20, so that the molding plate 121 does not need to be adjusted in the front-rear direction with respect to the tab 20 as shown in fig. 4, thereby simplifying the step of molding the tab 20.

In addition, the supporting plate 122 may also be disposed on other moving platforms, such as a rotating platform or a multi-dimensional moving platform, and may be used in cooperation with the horizontal moving plate 123 and the vertical moving plate 124, so as to further improve the flexibility of the movement of the forming plate 121.

With continued reference to fig. 4, in one embodiment, the carrier assembly 110 may include a stage 112 and a clamp 111. When the tab 20 is welded, the stage 112 carries the welding region 22 of the tab 20 from below the tab 20, and the clamping member 111 is disposed above the tab 20 for engaging with the stage 112 to press down the welding region 22 of the tab 20, so that the multi-layer tab 20 is reduced in thickness.

It is understood that in other scenarios, the battery cell 10 may be placed in other orientations at the welding station 30. Those skilled in the art can adjust the arrangement positions of the bearing assembly 110 and the forming assembly 120 according to actual situations, and details are not described herein. For example, the carrier assembly 110 is disposed below the tab 20, and the molding assembly 120 is disposed above the tab 20; or, there are two molding assemblies 120 respectively disposed above and below the tab 20 to simultaneously perform molding processing on two sides of the bending region 21 of the tab 20; or, after one side of the tab 20 is formed by the forming assembly 120, the battery cell 10 may be turned over by 180 °, and then the other side of the tab 20 is formed.

The welding assistance mechanism 100 in the present application is capable of forming the arch structure 23 in the bending region 21 of the tab 20 by providing the forming assembly 120. During welding, when the tab 20 is heated or deformed by impact force, the arch structure 23 can provide a displacement space for longitudinal deformation of the tab 20, so that the risk that the tab 20 which is originally in a tensioning state is torn in the deformation process is avoided; in addition, the molding assembly 120 of the present application further provides the horizontal moving plate 123 and the vertical moving plate 124, and the molding plate 121 is disposed on the horizontal moving plate 123, so that the molding plate 121 can move through the horizontal moving plate 123 and the vertical moving plate 124. When the tab 20 is welded, the forming plate 121 can be close to and abut against one side of the tab 20, so that one side of the tab 20 is bent towards the other side, and further, the arch structure 23 can be conveniently formed on the tab 20, thereby simplifying the forming step of the arch structure 23.

Referring to fig. 7 in conjunction with fig. 3 and fig. 5, fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a welding apparatus according to the present application. In the present embodiment, the welding device 200 is used for welding the tab 20 of the battery cell 10, and may include a welding auxiliary mechanism and a welding assembly 230. The auxiliary welding mechanism comprises a bearing assembly 210 and a forming assembly 220, wherein the bearing assembly 210 is arranged below the tab 20 and is used for bearing the welding area 22 of the tab 20; the forming assembly 220 is arranged below the tab 20 and is used for forming the bending area 21 of the tab 20; the welding assembly 230 is provided above the tab 20 to perform a welding process on the welding zone 22 of the tab 20. For the specific structural features of the carrier assembly 210 and the forming assembly 220, please refer to the above embodiments, which are not repeated herein.

In a specific application scenario, the tab 20 of the battery is welded by ultrasonic welding. In the ultrasonic welding, high-frequency vibration waves are transmitted to the surfaces of the multilayer tabs 20, and the surfaces of the adjacent two layers of tabs 20 are rubbed against each other under pressure to form fusion between the molecular layers. Thus, in one embodiment, the welding assembly 230 includes a welding head 231 disposed toward the welding region 22 of the tab 20 to press and weld the welding region 22 of the multi-layered tab 20 when the tab 20 is at the welding station 30 to form the conductive end 11 of the cell 10.

Of course, in other embodiments, the welding mode of the tab 20 may also be laser welding or arc welding, and those skilled in the art may adjust the structural arrangement of the welding assembly 230 according to actual situations, which is not described herein.

It is understood that in other scenarios, the battery cell 10 may be placed in other orientations at the welding station 30. Those skilled in the art can adjust the setting position of the welding device 200 according to actual situations, and details are not repeated here. For example, the battery cell 10 has a positive tab 20 and a negative tab 20, which are respectively disposed at the same end of the battery cell 10, and there may be two welding devices 200, which respectively weld the positive tab 20 and the negative tab 20 of the battery cell 10; alternatively, the positive tab 20 and the negative tab 20 are respectively located at two ends of the battery cell 10, and the welding device 200 is correspondingly disposed at two ends of the battery cell 10, and respectively welds the positive tab 20 and the negative tab 20 of the battery cell 10.

Further, in a specific application scenario, please refer to fig. 8 in combination with fig. 3, and fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a prismatic aluminum-case battery in the present application. The square aluminum-casing battery may include a top cover 40 and two cells 10 arranged in an overlapping manner, wherein the top cover 40 is provided with legs 41 respectively connected to the conductive terminals 11 of the cells 10. After the welding region 22 of the tab 20 is welded and the conductive terminal 11 of the cell 10 is formed (this welding step may be referred to as initial welding), the cell 10 has not yet been formed into a complete battery, and the conductive terminal 11 needs to be further welded to the leg portion 41 of the top cover 40 (this welding step may be referred to as final welding). Therefore, after the cell 10 welds the tab 20 into the conductive terminal 11 at the welding station 30, it needs to be further transferred to the next welding station.

However, when the battery cell 10 is transferred between the stations, the arch 23 formed at the bending region 21 of the tab 20 may be deformed to some extent after losing the function of the molding assembly (see fig. 4). When the battery cell 10 is subjected to final welding, the bent region 21 of the tab 20 is difficult to maintain the arch structure 23, so that the tab 20 may be torn during final welding.

Based on this, please refer to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a welding auxiliary mechanism according to the present application. In this embodiment, the weld assist mechanism 300 can include a mount 310, a push plate 320, and a driver 330. The push plate 320 is slidably disposed on the mounting seat 310 and connected to the output end 331 of the driving member 330; the driving member 330 is disposed on the mounting seat 310, and is used to drive the pushing plate 320 to approach and abut against an end of the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10 when the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10 is welded to the leg 41 of the top cap 40, so that the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10 is in a pressed state, so as to maintain the arch structure 23 of the bending region 21 of the tab 20.

Optionally, the mounting seat 310 is provided with a sliding rail 311 facing the end of the battery cell 10, and the pushing plate 320 is provided with a sliding block 321 matching with the sliding rail 311. Thus, the direction of movement of the push plate 320 (as indicated by the double-headed straight arrow in FIG. 9) can be limited as the push plate 320 is driven by the drive member 330.

Referring to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a schematic structural view of the push plate in fig. 9. The push plate 320 includes a mounting portion 323 and a pushing portion 322, the pushing portion 322 is connected to the mounting portion 323 and is used for pushing against an end of the conductive end 11 of the electrical core 10, and the mounting portion 323 is provided with a groove 324 for fixing the slider 321, so that the push plate 320 can move along the sliding rail 311 under the action of the driving member 330. Of course, in other embodiments, the mounting portion 323 may be directly provided with a groove (not shown) that is engaged with the slide rail 311, and a person skilled in the art may adjust the sliding connection manner according to actual situations, which is not described herein again.

Further, considering that the end of the abutting portion 322 is used for contacting the end of the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10, in order to improve the abutting effect of the abutting portion 322 on the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10, in an embodiment, the end of the abutting portion 322 is a plane, or has an inward concave notch to accommodate the end of the conductive end 11; and the thickness of the pushing portion 322 is greater than that of the conductive end 11, so that the conductive end 11 is prevented from being avoided when being pushed against the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10, thereby affecting the pushing effect. In an embodiment, the width of the abutting portion 322 is greater than the width of the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10, so that the pushing plate 320 does not need to adjust the position relationship with the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10 in the front-back direction shown in fig. 9.

Further, with continued reference to FIG. 9, in order to achieve the connection between the driving member 330 and the push plate 320, in an embodiment, the welding auxiliary mechanism 300 further includes a connecting block 340, and the connecting block 340 is respectively connected to the output end 331 of the driving member 330 and the push plate 320, for transmitting the driving force of the driving member 330 from the output end 331 of the driving member 330 to the push plate 320. The connecting block 340 can be fixedly connected to one end of the push plate 320 and is sleeved on the output end 331 of the driving member 330.

Alternatively, the driving member 330 may be a telescopic cylinder. Of course, in other embodiments, the driving member 330 can be a motor, etc., and those skilled in the art can make adjustments according to actual situations.

Further, referring to fig. 11 in conjunction with fig. 9, fig. 11 is a schematic view of the welding auxiliary mechanism in fig. 9 from a left perspective. The conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10 is welded to the leg 41 of the top cover 40 on the welding support seat 50. In order to improve the adaptability of the welding assistance mechanism 300 to different heights of the welding support seat 50, in an embodiment, the welding assistance mechanism 300 further includes a first support plate 350 and a second support plate 360. The mounting seat 310 is fixed on the first support plate 350, the first support plate 350 is disposed on the second support plate 360, and the first support plate 350 can move in the vertical direction relative to the second support plate 360, so as to align the abutting portion 322 of the push plate 320 with the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10.

Specifically, the first support plate 350 is provided with a waist-shaped hole 351 opened along the vertical direction, and the mounting position of the first support plate 350 on the second support plate 360 can be adjusted by penetrating the fastener 352 through the waist-shaped hole 351 of the first support plate 350, so as to adjust the height of the push plate 320. The second support plate 360 is provided with a horizontal waist-shaped hole 361, and the second support plate 360 can also be arranged on other mobile platforms, such as a rotary platform or a multi-dimensional mobile platform, and the distance between the pushing portion 322 of the pushing plate 320 and the end of the electric core 10 can be adjusted within a wide range by penetrating the fastener 362 through the waist-shaped hole 361 on the second support plate 360.

The welding auxiliary mechanism 300 in this embodiment is provided with a push plate 320 on the mounting seat 310, and the push plate 320 is used for applying a force to the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10 toward the end of the battery cell 10, so that the bent region 21 of the tab 20 can hold the arch structure 23. Therefore, the longitudinal deformation generated by the self deformation of the tab 20 can be further counteracted in the final welding process of the tab 20, and the tearing of the tab 20 is avoided again.

Further, please refer to fig. 12 in conjunction with fig. 3, fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a welding apparatus according to the present application. In the present embodiment, the welding device 400 is used to weld the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10 to the leg 41 of the top cover 40, and may include a welding auxiliary mechanism 410 and a welding assembly 420. The welding support shaft 50 is used for supporting the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10, and the welding assembly 420 is disposed above the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10 and is used for welding the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10 to fix the conductive end 11 and the leg 41 of the top cover 40; for the detailed structural features of the welding auxiliary mechanism 410, please refer to the above embodiments, which are not repeated herein.

In a specific application scenario, the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10 and the leg 41 of the top cover 40 are welded by ultrasonic welding. The ultrasonic welding is performed by transmitting a high-frequency vibration wave to the surfaces of the conductive terminal 11 and the leg 41, and rubbing the surfaces of the conductive terminal 11 and the leg 41 against each other under pressure to form fusion between the molecular layers. Therefore, in an embodiment, the welding assembly 420 includes a welding head 421 disposed toward the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10 to press and weld the conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10 and the leg 41 of the top cover 40, thereby forming a complete battery.

Of course, in other embodiments, the welding manner of the conductive end 11 of the electrical core 10 and the leg portion 41 of the top cover 40 may also be laser welding or arc welding, and a person skilled in the art may adjust the structural arrangement of the welding assembly 420 according to actual situations, which is not described herein again.

It is understood that in other scenarios, the battery cells 10 may be placed in other directions. Those skilled in the art can adjust the setting position of the welding device 400 according to actual situations, and details are not repeated here. For example, two battery cells 10 are formed into a square aluminum-casing battery, the positive conductive terminal 11 and the negative conductive terminal 11 of the battery cell 10 are respectively disposed at two ends of the battery cell 10, and the leg portions 41 of the top cover are sequentially disposed at two ends of the battery cell 10 correspondingly. Therefore, two welding devices 400 may be used to weld the positive conductive end 11 and the negative conductive end 11 of the battery cell 10, respectively; alternatively, the positive conductive terminal 11 and the negative conductive terminal 11 are respectively located at the same end of the battery cell 10, and the leg portion 41 of the top cover 40 is correspondingly located at one end of the battery cell 10. Accordingly, the welding device 400 is correspondingly disposed at one end of the battery cell 10, and respectively welds the positive conductive terminal 11 and the negative conductive terminal 11 of the battery cell 10.

It is understood that in an embodiment, the welding device 400 may further include a welding auxiliary mechanism (as shown in fig. 4) for shaping the bending region 21 of the tab 20. That is, the welding device 400 may include a first welding assistance mechanism and a second welding assistance mechanism. The first welding auxiliary mechanism is used for performing forming processing on a bending area 21 of a tab 20 when the tab 20 of the battery cell 10 is subjected to initial welding, so as to form an arch structure 23 on the tab 20; the second welding auxiliary mechanism is used for abutting against the end part of the conductive end 11 formed by the multiple layers of tabs 20 after the tabs 20 of the battery cell 10 are subjected to initial welding, so that the bent area 21 of the tabs 20 can also hold the arch structure 23 when the battery cell 10 is subjected to final welding. Therefore, the cell 10 can be subjected to initial welding and final welding in the same welding station in sequence, and the volume of the welding device 400 and the welding step of the cell 10 can be saved. Of course, those skilled in the art may adjust the structural components of the welding device 400 according to actual situations, and the details are not repeated herein.

Referring to fig. 13, fig. 13 is a schematic flow chart of a welding method according to the present application. The welding method in the present embodiment can be implemented by using the welding apparatus in the above-described embodiment as an implementation body. Of course, in other embodiments, the implementation may also be performed by other implementation bodies, which are not described in detail herein.

Referring to fig. 1-3, the welding method in this embodiment includes the following steps:

s11: the pole piece is cut by the cutting mechanism, so that at least one side of the pole piece is provided with a plurality of lugs distributed at intervals.

For lithium batteries, the pole pieces are important components of the battery cells, and can be used for storing electric energy after the pole pieces are wound to form the battery cells. When the pole piece is wound, the edge area of the pole piece can be divided, and then a pole lug connected with the pole piece is formed.

In this embodiment, there may be a plurality of tabs connected to the pole piece. Therefore, the cutting mechanism can form a plurality of lugs distributed at intervals on the edge of the pole piece in a laser cutting mode, and the lugs can be used as conductive ends for connecting the pole piece after being welded. Of course, in other embodiments, the cutting mechanism may also divide the pole pieces by cutting. The specific implementation of the cutting mechanism can be selected by those skilled in the art according to actual situations, and is not described herein in detail.

In this embodiment, one side of the pole piece can be cut to form a plurality of tabs distributed at a single end; the two sides of the pole piece can be cut to form a plurality of tabs distributed at the two ends. It will be appreciated that one skilled in the art can form multiple tabs for different sides of a pole piece depending on the type of lithium battery.

In addition, in order to enable the plurality of tabs connected with the pole piece to be overlapped after the pole piece is wound, so as to facilitate the subsequent press welding, in an embodiment, the plurality of tabs may be distributed on at least one side of the pole piece at equal intervals.

S12: the pole pieces are wound by a winding mechanism so that a plurality of tabs are stacked on each other.

The pole piece forms the electric core of lithium cell after being convoluteed by winding mechanism, and a plurality of utmost point ears range upon range of setting to expose with the tip of electric core. The tab comprises a bending area and a welding area, and the bending area is respectively connected with the end part of the battery cell and the welding area.

It is understood that those skilled in the art can select the type of winding mechanism according to the actual situation, and the detailed description is not repeated herein.

S13: and thinning the plurality of tabs through the bearing assembly so that the surfaces of the tabs are in a tensioning state.

In order to ensure that the welding quality of the tab is good during welding, the surface of the tab needs to be in a tension state. Therefore, before the welding of the pole lug, the pole lug can be thinned through the bearing assembly (as shown in fig. 4) in one embodiment of the application, so that the welding area of the pole lug has better flatness before being welded, and the pole lug can obtain better welding quality during welding.

S14: at least one side of the pole lug is molded through the molding assembly, so that the bending area of the pole lug forms an arch structure.

With reference to fig. 5, in order to avoid the problem that the tab in a tensioned state is longitudinally deformed due to heating or impact, the tab is torn. In one embodiment, the bending region of the tab may be formed by a forming assembly as described in one embodiment of the present application (as shown in fig. 4), so that one side of the bending region of the tab is bent toward the other side, thereby forming an arch structure on the tab. This arch structure can compensate the vertical deformation of utmost point ear self to avoid utmost point ear to take place to tear when the welding.

It can be understood that, in order to improve the compensation effect, the two sides of the tab can be simultaneously molded. The person skilled in the art can make adjustments according to the actual situation.

S15: and welding the welding area of the lug through the first welding assembly so that the welding area forms a conductive end of the battery cell.

After the tab is positioned at the welding station, the welding area of the tab can be welded. The first welding assembly may be the welding assembly described in an embodiment of the present application (as shown in fig. 7), and the tabs are welded by the first welding assembly, so that a plurality of stacked tabs are welded to form a whole and serve as a conductive end of the battery cell. Because there is the domes in the bending zone of utmost point ear, the domes can offset the deformation that utmost point ear produced when the welding to can avoid utmost point ear to take place to tear when the welding.

S16: the push plate applies acting force towards the end part of the battery core to the formed conductive end, so that the bending area of the tab can maintain the arch structure.

After the welding of the tabs of the battery cell is completed, the conductive end of the battery cell is formed, and the battery cell needs to be further transferred to the next station so as to weld the battery cell and the top cover. As described above, in the process of the battery cell transfer station, after the arch structure formed in the tab bending area loses the external force, a restorable deformation may occur, and therefore, when the battery cell and the top cap are welded, an acting force toward the end of the battery cell needs to be applied to the conductive end of the battery cell, so that the arch structure can be maintained.

In an embodiment, when the cell is welded, a force toward the end of the cell may be applied to the conductive terminal by a welding auxiliary mechanism (as shown in fig. 9) as described in this application and by a pushing plate. Therefore, the electric conduction end of the battery cell can be kept in the welding process with the top cover, the longitudinal deformation of the electric conduction end of the battery cell is offset again, the tearing of the lug forming the electric conduction end is avoided, and the yield of the battery is improved.

S17: and welding the conductive end and the top cover through a second welding assembly to form a finished battery.

In an embodiment, the second welding assembly may be the welding assembly described herein (as shown in fig. 12), and the conductive end of the cell is welded to the top cap by the second welding assembly, thereby forming the finished battery.

Of course, in other embodiments, the conductive end of the battery cell and the top cover may also be welded by laser welding. It is understood that the adjustment can be made by those skilled in the art according to the actual situation.

It should be understood that the above embodiments only describe the steps of welding a plurality of tabs to form the cell conductive end and welding the conductive end and the leg portion of the top cap in the lithium battery production process, and do not indicate that the above steps are complete steps of forming the lithium battery, and those skilled in the art may adjust the specific implementation manner of the steps according to actual situations, and alternate processing steps between the steps, which all fall within the protection scope of the present application.

In summary, the present application provides a welding assisting mechanism, a welding apparatus, and a welding method. The welding auxiliary mechanism is provided with the push plate, so that acting force can be applied to the conductive end formed on the battery core when the tab is welded, the arched structure formed in the bending area of the tab can be maintained, and the axial deformation of the tab can be compensated and offset by the arched structure when the tab is welded, so that the risk of tearing the tab is avoided, and the yield of the battery can be improved; further, welding complementary unit in this application has still been equipped with first backup pad and second backup pad, and first backup pad can move second backup pad relatively to welding complementary unit's flexibility ratio has been improved.

The above description is only for the purpose of illustrating embodiments of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application, and all modifications of equivalent structures and equivalent processes, which are made by the contents of the specification and the drawings of the present application or are directly or indirectly applied to other related technical fields, are also included in the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. The utility model provides a welding complementary unit for the welding of the electrically conductive end of supplementary electric core, its characterized in that includes:

a mounting seat;

the push plate is arranged on the mounting seat in a sliding manner;

the driving piece is arranged on the mounting seat, connected with the push plate and used for driving the push plate to be close to or far away from the welding station;

when the conductive end of the battery core is positioned at the welding station, the driving piece drives the push plate to be close to and abut against the conductive end, so that the conductive end is in a pressed state, and an arch structure formed on at least one side of the conductive end can be maintained;

the conductive end is formed by winding a tab exposed out of the end part of the battery cell; the tab comprises a bending area and a welding area, and the welding area is welded to form the conductive end; the arched structure is formed by the fact that a bending area on one side of the tab is sunken towards a bending area on the other side of the tab, and is used for offsetting longitudinal deformation of the tab in the welding process.

2. The welding auxiliary mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a slide rail is arranged on the mounting seat, and a slide block matched with the slide rail is arranged on the push plate; wherein, the extending direction of slide rail is towards welding station.

3. The welding assist mechanism of claim 2 wherein the push plate includes a mounting portion and an abutment portion; the pushing part is connected with the mounting part and used for pushing against the end part of the conductive end of the battery cell; the installation part is provided with a groove for fixing the sliding block, so that the push plate can move along the sliding rail under the action of the driving piece.

4. The welding assist mechanism of claim 3 wherein the end of the abutment portion facing the welding station is planar or has an inwardly recessed notch to receive the end of the conductive end.

5. The welding assist mechanism of claim 1, further comprising connecting blocks respectively connecting the output end of the driving member and the push plate for transmitting the driving force of the driving member from the output end of the driving member to the push plate.

6. The welding assist mechanism of claim 1, further comprising a first support plate and a second support plate, wherein the first support plate is disposed on the second support plate and is movable in a vertical direction relative to the second support plate; the mounting seat is fixedly arranged on the first supporting plate, so that the mounting height of the push plate connected with the mounting seat in the vertical direction can be adjusted.

7. The welding auxiliary mechanism according to claim 6, characterized in that the first support plate is provided with a waist-shaped hole opened along the vertical direction, and a fastener can penetrate through the waist-shaped hole and adjust the fixing position on the waist-shaped hole so as to adjust the installation position of the first support plate on the second support plate.

8. A welding device is used for welding a conductive end of a battery core with a top cover of a battery, and is characterized by comprising a welding auxiliary mechanism and a welding assembly, wherein the welding assembly is arranged above a welding station and used for welding the conductive end positioned on the welding station so as to fix the conductive end with the top cover; wherein the welding assistance mechanism is as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7.