DE102023103417A1 - Measuring arrangement and measuring method for measuring the position and/or orientation of flat elements in a cell stack in the energy cell producing industry - Google Patents

Abstract

A measuring arrangement (30) for a machine (10) in the energy cell producing industry for measuring the position and/or alignment of planar elements (70) in a cell stack (90) comprises a first measuring device (29) which is arranged in a measuring relationship to planar elements (70) transported in the machine (10) upstream of the cell stack (90), and a second measuring device (40) which is arranged in a measuring relationship to the cell stack (90), as well as an electronic evaluation unit (31). The electronic evaluation unit (31) is set up for element-precise assignment and calculation of the measurement data from the first measuring device (29) and the measurement data from the second measuring device (40) to the same planar element (70), and for generating a combined measurement value of the alignment and/or orientation of the planar element (70) in the cell stack (90).

Description

The present invention relates to a measuring arrangement for a machine in the energy cell production industry for measuring the position and/or orientation of planar elements in a cell stack, comprising a first measuring device which is arranged in a measuring relationship to planar elements transported in the machine upstream of the cell stack, and a second measuring device which is arranged in a measuring relationship to the cell stack, as well as an electronic evaluation unit. The invention further relates to a measuring method for measuring the position and/or orientation of planar elements in a cell stack in the energy cell production industry.

Devices for producing a cell stack for battery cell production are, for example, made of EN 10 2017 216 138 A1 and EN 10 2017 216 213 A1 known.

In battery cell production, individual composite elements, for example monocells comprising the layers separator, cathode, separator, anode, are stacked to form a cell stack, which is also referred to as a composite cell or unified cell. It is very important that the elements are stacked precisely on top of each other within a defined tolerance range.

When stacking the flat elements or composite cells, it is necessary to measure the relative position of the individual electrodes to each other. Due to the usual structure of the composite cells, however, it is only possible to detect the electrodes in the cell stack to a limited extent, since one electrode is enclosed by separators.

The object of the invention is to provide a measuring arrangement and a measuring method which make it possible to measure the relative position of the individual electrodes to each other in the cell stack.

The invention solves this problem with the features of the independent claims.

According to the invention, the electronic evaluation unit is designed for element-accurate assignment and calculation of the measurement data from the first measuring device and the measurement data from the second measuring device to the same planar element, and for generating a combined measurement value of the alignment and/or orientation of the planar element in the cell stack.

The problem of the flat elements in the cell stack that cannot be detected in the prior art is therefore solved according to the invention by a fusion of data from several measuring devices that are specifically arranged at different positions in the product run.

Preferably, the element-accurate allocation of the measurement data from the first measuring device and the measurement data from the second measuring device takes place in the electronic evaluation unit on the basis of data transmitted by a product tracking device. Preferably, the product tracking device is arranged in a machine control of the machine. The evaluation unit is advantageously arranged in the second measuring device or in the machine control.

Accordingly, quality data is advantageously recorded from one or more previous measuring devices, i.e. those arranged earlier in the product process, and transmitted to the machine control system. The product tracking in the machine control system, for example, has the information about where which product or flat element is located and stores the quality data accordingly. When the product or flat element is at the second measuring device for batch measurement, the quality data is transmitted from the first measuring device to the second measuring device. The quality data in the second measuring device can then be offset against the raw data from the first measuring device. The results are then output by the measuring arrangement and transmitted, for example, to the machine control system.

The first measuring device is preferably arranged in the product run upstream of a connecting device for connecting flat elements to form a composite element. This enables the precise position detection of the flat elements by the first measuring device before this is made more difficult by the connection to form a composite element. The first measuring device is preferably arranged in a feed section of the machine used for placing flat elements on top of one another on a collecting conveyor. The positional relationship of the flat elements relative to one another is established on such a collecting conveyor, so that the first measuring device can measure the relative position of the flat elements to one another, as it later exists in the cell stack. The first measuring device is therefore preferably set up to determine the relative position of flat elements placed on top of one another.

In an advantageous embodiment, the second measuring device is arranged in a measuring relationship to a side surface of the cell stack. The first measuring device preferably comprises at least at least one camera directed at a conveying plane and/or at least one optical sensor directed at a conveying plane, which is set up to detect an optical transition generated by a transverse edge of a planar element conveyed past the optical sensor. The first measuring device preferably has at least one first sensor for detecting first planar elements and at least one second sensor for detecting second planar elements, thereby enabling the independent position detection of different planar elements, in particular anodes and cathodes. The at least one first sensor is preferably set up to measure the position and/or orientation of first electrodes immediately after they have been placed on the collecting conveyor. The at least one second sensor is preferably set up to measure the position and/or orientation of second electrodes immediately after they have been placed on the collecting conveyor.

The invention also provides a measuring method for measuring the position and/or alignment of planar elements in a cell stack in the energy cell producing industry, comprising a measurement on the cell stack and a measurement on planar elements transported in a preceding section of the machine. The measurement data from both measurements are assigned to the same planar element with element precision and calculated, and a combined measurement value of the alignment and/or orientation of the planar element in the cell stack is generated.

• 1 eine beispielhafte Darstellung eines flächigen Elements;
• 2 eine schematische Ansicht einer Maschine zur Herstellung von Zellstapeln für die Energiezellen produzierende Industrie;
• 3 eine schematische Darstellung einer erfindungsgemäßen Messanordnung; und
• 4 eine schematische Draufsicht auf einen Zellstapel zur Erläuterung eines Toleranzbereichs für die flächigen Elemente.

The invention is explained below using preferred embodiments with reference to the attached figures.

• 1 an exemplary representation of a planar element;
• 2 a schematic view of a machine for producing cell stacks for the energy cell producing industry;
• 3 a schematic representation of a measuring arrangement according to the invention; and
• 4 a schematic top view of a cell stack to illustrate a tolerance range for the planar elements.

In the following, the structure of a flat composite element, here a monocell 91, is first described with reference to 1 described. A monocell 91 is a layer system consisting of layers or flat elements 70 placed on top of one another, namely a separator 92, an anode 93, another separator 94 and a cathode 95. The layers of the monocell 91 can be connected to one another, for example by lamination or in some other way. The monocell 91 can then also be referred to as a flat composite element. The electrodes 93, 95 typically consist of electrode materials from an electrochemical and/or galvanic accumulator. In the case of a lithium-ion battery, the electrodes 93, 95 contain lithium ions, for example. The separators 92, 94 serve to electrically insulate the electrodes 93, 95 from one another and consist, for example, of a plastic film, such as a thermoplastic material.

To construct a cell stack 90, a plurality or multiplicity of mono cells 91 are stacked on top of one another and, if necessary, closed off with a final cell. The cell stack 90 is used in particular to construct an electrochemical and/or galvanic accumulator (not shown), for example a lithium-ion battery. The cell stack 90 can also be formed in a manner other than from mono cells 91, for example by means of flat composite elements with a different structure, or from individual flat elements 70, or a combination of composite elements and individual flat elements 70.

Cell stacks 90 are manufactured by means of a machine 10, which will be described below with reference to 2 is described schematically.

The machine 10 comprises a feed section 11 for feeding starting materials 12-15, namely endless separator film webs 13, 15 and endless streams 12, 14 of electrodes 93, 95, namely cathodes and anodes, and depositing them on a collecting conveyor 16, for example a belt conveyor or a rotary conveyor. In one embodiment, first pre-cut cathode elements 12, then a separator film web 13, then pre-cut anode elements 14 and finally another separator film web 15 are placed on the collecting conveyor 16. The order can also be different, for example first anode elements and then cathode elements, or first a separator film web. When placing the electrodes 12, 14, they are arranged in a precise position one above the other and relative to one another with regard to the composite elements or monocells 91 to be achieved, see 1 .

The superimposed material layers 12-15 are conveyed by means of the collecting conveyor 16 to a subsequent connecting device 17, which in 2 is only shown schematically. In the connecting device 17, the material layers 12-15 are connected to one another, for example by lamination or welding or gluing the separator films 13, 15 together.

The electrode-separator composite web 18 formed in the connecting device 17 is then fed to a cutting device 19 in which the electrode-separator composite web 18 is cut by cross-cutting into individual flat (composite) elements, for example monocells. The cutting in the cutting device 19 can be carried out mechanically or, for example, by means of a laser beam.

The connecting device 17 and the cutting device 19 can also be arranged in the reverse order.

The composite elements or monocells 91 are stacked in a final stacking section 20 of the machine 10 to form a cell stack 90, in which a plurality or multiplicity of flat elements 70 are stacked one above the other in a positionally accurate manner. The stacking section 20 comprises a conveyor device 39, for example a rotary conveyor, in particular a rotary driven conveyor drum, with which the composite elements 91 are conveyed to a 6 o'clock position and there deposited on a cell stack 90 and thus stacked. The vertical stacking direction 38 here therefore runs parallel to the 2 shown y-axis. The composite elements 91 are preferably placed on a storage device 41, for example a storage table or storage container, so that the cell stack 90 rests on or in the storage device 41.

The machine 10 has a central machine control 32; this is usually a central digital data processing device of the machine 10. A product tracking section 33 is provided in the machine control 32, in which information on the position of each individual product, i.e. each individual flat element 70 and each individual composite element 91, in the machine 15 is available, obtained by sensors (not shown).

To measure the stacking accuracy of composite elements 91, or to measure the position and/or (angular) alignment of the individual planar elements 70 in the cell stack 90, the machine 10 has a measuring arrangement 30, which is described below with reference to the 3 is explained.

The measuring arrangement 30 comprises a measuring device 40 which is arranged in the stack section 20 and in a measuring relationship to the cell stack 90, as in 2 shown. This measuring device 40 is referred to below as second measuring device 40. The second measuring device 40 is preferably arranged in a measuring relationship to one or more side surfaces of cell stack 90.

Preferably, the second measuring device 40 comprises one or more, particularly advantageously at least three, distance measuring sensors, for example triangulation sensors or sensors operating by means of transit time measurement. The second measuring device 40 is preferably designed to measure the distance between individual planar elements 70 in the cell stack 90 in two mutually perpendicular directions x, z perpendicular to the stack axis y (see 2 ) is arranged. Advantageous embodiments of the second measuring device 40 are shown in the 1 and 2 the EN 10 2022 104 471.8 shown, the disclosure content of which together with the associated description is hereby incorporated into the present application.

The measuring arrangement 30 comprises an evaluation unit 31, which is preferably arranged in the second measuring device 40, but can also be arranged, for example, in the machine control 32. The evaluation unit 31 is comparable to the evaluation unit (20 there) of the EN 10 2022 104 471.8 , for evaluating the measurement signals transmitted by the second measuring device 40. The evaluation unit 31 is in particular designed to determine the position of at least one planar element 70 of the cell stack 90 in two directions x, z perpendicular to the stack axis y, and preferably also to determine the angle of rotation φ (see 4 ) of at least one planar element 70 of the cell stack 90 about the stack axis y, which is also referred to as the orientation of the planar element 70.

Due to the structure of the monocell 91 (see 1 ), however, it is only possible to detect the position of the electrodes 93 and 95 in the cell stack 90 to a limited extent, since each electrode 93, 95 is enclosed by separators 92, 94. This applies to a greater extent to the cathodes 95, which generally have smaller dimensions than the anodes 93 and are therefore located further inside the cell stack 90.

According to the invention, the measuring arrangement 30 has a first measuring device 29, which is arranged in the machine 10 upstream (in relation to the product run) of the second measuring device 40. By means of the first measuring device 29, first quality or measurement data 34 of flat elements 70 transported upstream of the stack section 20 in the machine 10 are determined. The first measurement data 34 include in particular relative or absolute position data of at least one flat element 70, preferably of at least one or all of the electrodes 93, 95, and/or separator sheet 92, 94, relative to a target position, ie the relative position of one or of the electrodes 93, 95, and/or separator sheet 92, 94, within a monocell 91. Advantageous embodiments of the first measuring device 29 are shown in the 4 and 7 the EN 10 2022 105 873.5 shown (there as contrast sensors 61-64, alternatively in the form of one or more cameras arranged in relation to the conveying plane), the disclosure content of which together with the associated description is hereby incorporated into the present application.

The first measuring device 29 is preferably arranged upstream of the connecting device 17, see 2 The first measuring device 29 is preferably arranged in the feed section 11. The first measuring device 29 advantageously measures the position of the flat elements 70 or the electrodes 93, 95 after they have been placed on the collecting conveyor 16, because from this point on the flat elements 70 have a fixed positional reference relative to one another and are also still essentially exposed and can therefore be easily inspected.

The first measuring device 29 preferably has at least one first sensor 21, which is designed to measure the position and/or orientation of first electrodes 12, 95 immediately after they have been placed on the collecting conveyor 16. The first measuring device 29 preferably has at least one second sensor 22, which is designed to measure the position and/or orientation of second electrodes 14, 93 immediately after they have been placed on the collecting conveyor 16. The first and second sensors 21, 22 enable individual detection of the electrodes 93 and the electrodes 95 (anodes and cathodes). The first sensor 21 can, for example, be designed like the contrast sensors 61, 62 of the EN 10 2022 105 873.5 The second sensor 22 can, for example, be designed like the contrast sensors 63, 64 of the EN 10 2022 105 873.5 Other designs are possible, for example with at least one camera instead of two contrast sensors.

The first measurement data 34 are stored in a 3 shown embodiment is sent to the machine control 32. The machine control 32 has the information as to where which flat element 70 is located in the product run of the machine via the product tracking 33 and stores the first measurement data 34 with the corresponding assignment. The corresponding information 35, i.e. the first measurement data assigned precisely to the element, is sent from the machine control 32 to the second measuring device 40. The transmission of the information 35 about a specific flat element 70 preferably takes place in temporal connection with the second measurement on the flat element 70, i.e. when the flat element 70 in question has arrived at the second measuring device 40. After the second measurement in the second measuring device 40, the second quality or measurement data measured there can be offset against the first measurement data from the first measuring device 29 in the evaluation unit 31. The result of the calculation, namely the combined quality or measurement data 36 with highly accurate position data of the individual planar elements 70 in the cell stack 90, are then transmitted to the machine control 32.

As an alternative to the 3 In the embodiment shown, the first measurement data 34 can also be sent directly from the first measuring device 29 to the second measuring device 40, ie without going via the machine control 32.

In a further alternative embodiment, the calculation of the first and second measurement data can take place in the machine control 32, i.e. the evaluation unit 31 can be arranged entirely or partially in the machine control 32.

According to the above, the problem of non-detectable layers or planar elements 70 is solved by merging data from several measuring devices 29, 40 arranged at different points along the product run.

In a further development of the invention, in addition to the (relative) position of the planar elements 70, it is to be determined whether the individual planar elements 70 lie within a tolerance range 44 defined by tolerance limits 43, see 4 . The first measuring device 29 therefore not only measures and transmits the position of the individual planar elements 70, but also advantageously further measurement data of the individual planar elements 70, such as the straightness of the edges, the angles in the corners, the position of the corners and/or the alignment cp. Using this additional data, it can be determined whether and how precisely each planar element 70, in relation to the cell stack 90, lies within the tolerance range 44.

The storage device 41 is advantageously adjustable along the stack axis y, in particular lowerable, in order to be able to obtain a measurement profile of the measurement with the second measuring device 40 (see below) in the y-direction.

List of reference symbols:

10

machine

11

Feed section

12

Electrode current

13

Separator film web

14

Electrode current

15

Separator film webs

16

Collecting conveyor

17

Connecting device

18

Electrode separator composite sheet

19

Cutting device

20

Stack section

21

first sensor

22

second sensor

29

first measuring device

30

Measuring arrangement

31

Evaluation unit

32

Machine control

33

Product tracking section

34

first measurement data

35

second measurement data

36

combined measurement data

38

Stacking direction

39

Conveyor system

40

second measuring device

41

Storage facility

42

electronic control device

43

Tolerance limits

44

Tolerance range

90

Cell stack

91

Monocell

92

separator

93

electrode

94

separator

95

electrode

QUOTES INCLUDED IN THE DESCRIPTION

This list of documents listed by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA accepts no liability for any errors or omissions.

Cited patent literature

• DE 102017216138 A1 [0002]
• DE 102017216213 A1 [0002]
• EN 1020221044718 [0026, 0027]
• EN 1020221058735 [0029, 0031]

Claims (10)

Measuring arrangement (30) for a machine (10) in the energy cell producing industry for measuring the position and/or alignment of planar elements (70) in a cell stack (90), comprising a first measuring device (29) which is arranged in a measuring relationship to planar elements (70) transported in the machine (10) upstream of the cell stack (90), and a second measuring device (40) which is arranged in a measuring relationship to the cell stack (90), and an electronic evaluation unit (31), characterized in that the electronic evaluation unit (31) is set up for element-precise assignment and calculation of the measurement data from the first measuring device (29) and the measurement data from the second measuring device (40) to the same planar element (70), and for generating a combined measurement value of the alignment and/or orientation of the planar element (70) in the cell stack (90). Measuring arrangement according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the element-accurate allocation of the measurement data from the first measuring device (29) and the measurement data from the second measuring device (40) takes place in the electronic evaluation unit (31) on the basis of data transmitted by a product tracking device (33). Measuring arrangement according to Claim 2 , characterized in that the product tracking device (33) is arranged in a machine control (32) of the machine (10). Measuring arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first measuring device (29) is arranged in the product run in front of a connecting device (17) for connecting flat elements (70) to form a composite element (91). Measuring arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first measuring device (29) is arranged in a feed section (11) of the machine which serves for superimposing flat segments (70) on a collecting conveyor (16). Measuring arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first measuring device (11) is arranged to determine the relative position of superimposed flat elements (70) to one another. Measuring arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the evaluation unit (13) is arranged in the second measuring device (12) or in a machine control (14). Measuring arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second measuring device (12) is arranged in a measuring relationship to a side surface of the cell stack (90). Measuring arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first measuring device (11) has at least one first sensor (21) for detecting first planar elements (12, 95) and at least one second sensor (22) for detecting second planar elements (14, 93). Measuring method for measuring the position and/or alignment of planar elements (70) in a cell stack (90) of the energy cell producing industry, comprising a first measurement on planar elements (70) upstream of the cell stack (90) and a second measurement on planar elements (70) in the cell stack (90), characterized in that the measurement data from both measurements are assigned to the same planar element (70) with element precision and are calculated, and a combined measurement value of the alignment and/or orientation of the planar element (70) in the cell stack (90) is generated.

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