JP2015191829A - Carrying roller for electrode manufacturing facility - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a carrying roller for an electrode manufacturing facility, capable of inhibiting foreign matter from being adhered thereto and improving maintainability.SOLUTION: A carrying roller 40 installed in a drying furnace 38a includes: a roller body 41; and a resin layer 42 adhered to the outer peripheral surface of the roller body 41. The resin layer 42 is provided keeping a resin sheet 46 adhered to the outer peripheral surface of the roller body 41. The surface of the resin sheet 46 has adhesion resistance against foreign matter.

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport roller for an electrode manufacturing facility that transports an electrode material having an active material mixture coating portion formed on at least one surface of a strip-shaped current collector.

  Conventionally, lithium ion secondary batteries, nickel-hydrogen secondary batteries, and the like are well known as power storage devices mounted on vehicles such as EVs (Electric Vehicles) and PHVs (Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles). These power storage devices have a power storage device electrode (hereinafter referred to as an electrode) including an active material layer on the surface of a current collector.

  In general, an electrode is manufactured by applying a slurry-like active material mixture containing an active material or a binder on a long strip-shaped current collector (for example, a strip-shaped metal foil) to form a coating portion. An electrode material having a body and a coating portion is formed. Next, the electrode material is passed through a drying furnace to dry the coated portion, and then the coated portion is pressed. And an electrode is manufactured by cut | disconnecting a strip | belt-shaped collector with the coating part in the target shape.

  During the manufacture of the electrode, the electrode material is supported from below by the transport roller in order to suppress the transported electrode material from being bent and transported. For example, in the electrode manufacturing process, the process of passing the electrode material into the drying furnace, which is an electrode manufacturing facility, is a process of drying the slurry-like active material mixture to a certain extent, so the transport distance in the drying furnace Is often longer. For this reason, the conveyance roller is installed in the drying furnace, and the electrode material to be conveyed is supported from below (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2013-84383 A

  By the way, not only in a drying furnace but when conveying an electrode material with a conveyance roller, a part of active material may be missing from a coating part. Part of the missing active material becomes foreign matter and may adhere to the surface of the transport roller due to the adhesive force of the binder. If foreign matter adheres to the surface of the conveying roller, the adhered foreign matter moves to a position where the belt-shaped current collector is supported by the rotation of the conveying roller, and the foreign matter is pressed against the belt-shaped current collector as it is from below. . As a result, a dent caused by the foreign matter is generated on the lower surface of the belt-shaped current collector, or a convex portion to which the foreign matter is attached is generated.

  A belt-like current collector is in sliding contact with the transport roller. For this reason, the surface of the transport roller is worn by the sliding contact of the belt-like current collector. In addition, the foreign matter attached to the transport roller may be pressed against the surface of the transport roller by the belt-shaped current collector, and the foreign matter may remain attached to the surface of the transport roller. Therefore, it is necessary to perform maintenance on the conveyance roller periodically or as necessary, and improvement of the maintainability is desired.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a transport roller for an electrode manufacturing facility that can suppress adhesion of foreign matters and improve maintainability.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the transport roller for the electrode manufacturing facility is formed with a coating portion of the active material mixture on at least one side of the belt-like current collector in order to manufacture the electrode for the power storage device by the electrode manufacturing facility. A transport roller for an electrode manufacturing facility for transporting a formed electrode material, comprising: a roller body; and a resin layer provided on an outer peripheral surface of the roller body, wherein the resin layer is formed of a resin sheet on the roller. The gist is that the resin sheet is adhered to the outer peripheral surface of the main body, and the resin sheet has adhesion resistance to foreign matters on the surface.

  According to this, adhesion of foreign matter to the surface of the transport roller is suppressed by the adhesion resistance of the resin layer. Further, the resin layer can be removed from the roller body by peeling the resin sheet from the roller body. Furthermore, by adhering a new resin sheet to the roller body, a resin layer can be newly provided on the roller body. Therefore, it is possible to improve the maintainability compared to the case where the transport roller itself is replaced with a new one in order to renew the surface of the transport roller.

Moreover, about the conveyance roller for electrode manufacturing facilities, the said electrode manufacturing facility is a drying furnace for drying the said coating part, and it is preferable to install in this drying furnace.
According to this, hot air etc. are supplied in a drying furnace, and the surface of a conveyance roller dries. For this reason, it becomes easy for a foreign material to adhere to the surface of a conveyance roller by the adhesive force of the binder contained in an active material mixture. However, since the resin layer is provided with adhesion resistance, it is difficult for foreign matter to adhere to the surface of the transport roller even in the drying furnace.

Moreover, about the conveyance roller for electrode manufacturing facilities, it is preferable that the said resin sheet has a contact bonding layer on the back surface, and this contact bonding layer contains polyetheretherketone.
According to this, although an adhesive layer is exposed to high temperature in a drying furnace, since polyether ether ketone is excellent in heat resistance, the adhesive layer is not melted and the adhesive layer can be maintained.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress adhesion of foreign matters and improve maintainability.

The figure which shows typically the production facility which performs the coating process and drying process of an active material mixture. The perspective view which shows a conveyance roller. The partial expanded sectional view which shows the roller main body and resin layer of a conveyance roller. The perspective view which shows the state which expand | deployed the resin sheet. The top view which shows a conveyance roller. The figure which shows typically the press apparatus which performs a press process.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which a transport roller for an electrode manufacturing facility is embodied as a transport roller in a drying furnace and a transport roller in a press apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, an electrode as a power storage device electrode is manufactured by applying an active material mixture to one side of a strip-shaped metal foil 11 as a strip-shaped current collector, and forming the strip-shaped metal foil 11 and the active material mixture. It has the coating process which forms the electrode material 13 which has the coating part 12 which is a layer. Further, the manufacture of the electrode includes a drying process for drying the coating part 12, a pressing process for pressurizing the coating part 12, as shown in FIG. 6, a vacuum drying process for the coating part 12, And a molding step of cutting the electrode material 13 into the shape of an electrode.

First, the production facility 35 that performs the coating process and the drying process will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, a production facility 35 involved in electrode manufacturing includes a supply reel 20 that supplies a strip-shaped metal foil 11, and the strip-shaped metal foil 11 is wound around the supply reel 20 in a roll shape. The production facility 35 includes a take-up reel 21, and the strip-shaped metal foil 11 is supplied from the supply reel 20 by winding the strip-shaped metal foil 11 from the supply reel 20 by the take-up reel 21. 11 is transported in the transport direction X1 with a certain amount of tension applied. The production facility 35 includes a plurality of transport rollers 39 and 40, and the strip-shaped metal foil 11 transported in the transport direction X1 is supported from below by the plurality of transport rollers 39 and 40. Among the transport rollers 39 and 40, some of the transport rollers 40 are installed in a drying furnace 38a described later, and the other transport rollers 39 are installed outside the drying furnace 38a.

  The production facility 35 includes a coating device 37 that applies the active material mixture to the strip-shaped metal foil 11 that is transported in the transport direction X1 to form the coating unit 12 that is a layer of the active material mixture, and a coating unit. And a drying device 38 for drying 12. In addition, an active material mixture mixes an active material, a conductive support agent, and a binder (binder), knead | mixes by adding a solvent, and is a slurry form. The coating device 37 includes a slit die 37 a, and a discharge port (not shown) of the slit die 37 a is disposed on one side of the strip-shaped metal foil 11 so as to face the strip-shaped metal foil 11. In the coating process, the active material mixture is intermittently applied to one surface of the strip-shaped metal foil 11 from the discharge port of the slit die 37 a, and the coating portion 12 is formed on one surface of the strip-shaped metal foil 11.

  The production facility 35 includes a drying device 38 as an electrode manufacturing facility, and the drying device 38 includes a drying furnace 38a. The drying furnace 38a heats air with heat from a heat source (not shown) and supplies hot air into the drying furnace 38a. The drying device 38 includes a plurality of transport rollers 40 in the drying furnace 38a, and the transport rollers 40 support the electrode material 13 transported in the drying furnace 38a from below. In the drying step, the coating unit 12 is dried in the drying furnace 38a, and most of the solvent is removed. The electrode material 13 that has passed through the drying device 38 is taken up by the take-up reel 21.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in the pressing process, the electrode material 13 is transported through a plurality of transport rollers 30. After the electrode material 13 is unwound from the take-up reel 21, the direction of the electrode material 13 is changed while being wound around the conveying roller 30 disposed at one end, and the direction of the electrode material 13 is changed again by the conveying roller 30 disposed at the other end. After that, the film is wound around a press winding reel 31. Between the plurality of transport rollers 30, the electrode material 13 is transported in the transport direction X2 along the longitudinal direction thereof. Further, the electrode material 13 fed out from the take-up reel 21 is guided through a transport roller 30 into a press device 32 as an electrode manufacturing facility.

  The press device 32 includes a first press roll 33 and a second press roll 34 that face each other with the electrode material 13 interposed therebetween. The first press roll 33 is disposed above the electrode material 13, and the second press roll 34 is disposed below the electrode material 13. The first press roll 33 and the second press roll 34 are each made of steel (made of metal). And the 1st press roll 33 and the 2nd press roll 34 rotate in a mutually different direction centering | focusing on a center axis | shaft, sandwiching the electrode material 13, and pressurizing the coating part 12 continuously.

  In the manufacture of the electrode, after performing the above-described coating process, drying process, and pressing process on one side of the strip-shaped metal foil 11, on the other side of the strip-shaped metal foil 11, the coating process, the drying process, A pressing process is performed. As a result, the pressed coating part 12 is formed on both surfaces of the strip-shaped metal foil 11.

  Subsequently, the vacuum drying process of the coating unit 12 is performed by placing the electrode material 13 wound on the take-up reel 31 for press in the vacuum dryer, and slightly remains in the coating unit 12 to be included. The solvent to be evaporated evaporates and the coating part 12 is cured. The forming process performed thereafter is performed by punching out the electrode material 13 taken up on the take-up reel 31 for press and punching the electrode material 13 into an electrode shape by a mold (not shown) while being conveyed.

Next, the conveying roller 40 for electrode manufacturing equipment installed in the drying device 38 and the conveying roller 30 for electrode manufacturing equipment installed in the press device 32 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, the transport rollers 30 and 40 have a cylindrical roller body 41 and a resin layer 42 integrated on the outer peripheral surface of the roller body 41. The transport rollers 30 and 40 are rotatably supported on the electrode manufacturing facility, but are not connected to the driving device, and rotate with the transport of the electrode material 13.

  The roller body 41 is made of metal, for example, an iron-based material such as iron or steel, an aluminum alloy containing aluminum, Mg, Cu, Zn, Si, Mn, or the like, or a copper alloy containing copper, Zn, Al, Sn, Mn, or the like. Etc. are preferable. Further, if the roller body 41 is made of ceramics, for example, alumina, zirconia, silicon carbide, or the like is preferable. The outer peripheral surface of the roller body 41 preferably has a larger surface roughness from the viewpoint of the adhesiveness of the resin layer 42.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the resin layer 42 covers the entire surface of the adhesive layer 42 a that adheres the resin layer 42 to the outer peripheral surface of the roller body 41, and constitutes the surfaces of the transport rollers 30 and 40. And a surface layer 42b. The resin layer 42 is thermocompression bonded to the roller body 41 by the adhesive layer 42a. The surface layer 42b includes a polyaryl ketone resin. Polyaryl ketone resins have high adhesion resistance among thermoplastic resins. The adhesion resistance refers to resistance against foreign matter adhering to the surface of the resin layer 42. The higher the adhesion resistance, the more difficult the foreign matter adheres to the surface of the surface layer 42b.

  Polyaryl ketone resin has excellent mechanical strength, heat resistance, flame resistance, abrasion resistance, chemical resistance, hydrolysis resistance, etc., and also exhibits excellent sliding characteristics even under severe usage conditions. . Examples of the polyarylketone resin include polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and polyetherketone resin. In this embodiment, PEEK is used for the surface layer 42b.

  Further, the resin layer 42 includes a solid lubricant in the surface layer 42b, and improves the adhesion resistance and sliding characteristics of the surface layer 42b by the solid lubricant. The solid lubricant is held on the surface layer 42b using the PEEK as a binder. Solid lubricants include fluorine resins such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), fluorine compounds such as graphite fluoride and calcium fluoride, sulfides such as molybdenum disulfide and tungsten disulfide, and layered structures such as graphite and talc. , Pb, Ag, Cu, and other soft metals and their compounds may be used as long as they are usually used as solid lubricants. In addition, titanium oxide, tungsten carbide, boron nitride, melamine cyanurate, etc. can be used.

  The adhesive layer 42a includes a thermoplastic polyimide resin and a polyaryl ketone resin. As the thermoplastic polyimide resin, polyetherimide (PEI) is preferable, and in this embodiment, PEI is used for the adhesive layer 42a. In addition, the above PEEK is used as the polyaryl ketone resin.

The resin layer 42 is formed by adhering a resin sheet 46 having a two-layer structure of an adhesive layer 42 a and a surface layer 42 b to the outer peripheral surface of the roller body 41.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the resin sheet 46 has a parallelogram in plan view. The resin sheet 46 is parallel to each other, and the first side 46 a and the second side 46 b that are long sides of the resin sheet 46, and the third side 46 c and the fourth side that are parallel to each other and short sides of the resin sheet 46. 46d. The lengths of the first side 46 a and the second side 46 b are slightly shorter than the circumferential length of the roller body 41, and the distance between the parallel first side 46 a and the second side 46 b is in the axial direction of the roller body 41. It is almost equal to the length. The third side 46c and the fourth side 46d are inclined with respect to the first side 46a and the second side 46b.

  In the parallelogram-shaped resin sheet 46, when the direction parallel to the first side 46a and the second side 46b (longitudinal direction of the resin sheet 46) and the winding direction around the roller body 41 are matched, The first side 46a and the second side 46b coincide with each other on the same circumference, and the third side 46c and the fourth side 46d are slightly separated in the winding direction. For this reason, the resin layer 42 has a gap S between the third side 46c and the fourth side 46d facing each other.

Next, the operation of the transport rollers 30 and 40 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the transport roller 40 supports the electrode material 13 to be transported from below while being installed in the drying furnace 38 a. As shown in FIG. 6, the transport roller 30 supports the electrode material 13 that is fed from the take-up reel 21 and guided into the press device 32 from below, and applies tension to the electrode material 13. .

  Even if a part of the active material is missing from the coating portion 12 and becomes a foreign matter, the surface layer 42b having high adhesion resistance prevents the foreign matter from adhering to the surfaces of the transport rollers 30 and 40. Further, during the maintenance of the transport rollers 30 and 40, the resin sheet 46 is peeled off from the surface of the roller main body 41, and a new resin sheet 46 is adhered to the surface of the roller main body 41 by the adhesive layer 42a. , 40 is completed.

According to the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The transport rollers 30 and 40 have a resin layer 42 on the surface of the roller body 41, and the resin layer 42 has a surface layer 42b having high adhesion resistance on the surface. For this reason, the surface layer 42 b suppresses foreign matter from adhering to the surfaces of the transport rollers 30 and 40. Therefore, in the electrode material 13 to be transported, it is possible to almost eliminate foreign matter from being pressed against the lower surface of the strip-shaped metal foil 11 from the transport rollers 30, 40. It can suppress that the dent and convex part which were made.

  (2) The resin layer 42 is formed by bonding a resin sheet 46 to the surface of the roller body 41. If the surface layer 42b is worn out or if foreign matter remains attached to the surface layer 42b, or if the resin layer 42 has been used for a certain period of time, the resin sheet 46 is removed from the roller. The resin layer 42 can be removed from the roller body 41 by peeling off from the body 41. The resin layer 42 can be renewed by adhering a new resin sheet 46 to the roller body 41. Therefore, compared to the case where the transport rollers themselves are replaced with new ones in order to renew the surfaces of the transport rollers 30, 40, the maintainability can be improved, and the cost required for maintenance can be reduced.

  (3) The conveyance roller 40 is installed in the drying furnace 38a. The inside of the drying furnace 38a is a dry environment to which hot air is supplied, and the transport distance is increased to ensure the drying time. Therefore, the surface of the transport roller 40 is dried, and foreign matters are easily attached. However, since the resin layer 42 has the surface layer 42b having high adhesion resistance, even if the conveyance roller 40 is installed in the drying furnace 38a, it is difficult for foreign matter to adhere to the surface of the conveyance roller 40.

  (4) The adhesive layer 42a includes PEEK. Since PEEK is excellent in heat resistance, the adhesive layer 42a is not melted and can be maintained even in the drying furnace 38a. Therefore, the state in which the resin layer 42 is adhered to the roller body 41 can be maintained, and the operation of peeling the resin sheet 46 from the roller body 41 can be easily performed as compared with the case where the adhesive layer 42a is melted.

  (5) The transport roller 30 applies tension to the electrode material 13 guided by the press device 32. Therefore, the electrode material 13 is pressed against the resin layer 42 of the transport roller 30. In such a transport roller 30, since the foreign matter hardly adheres to the resin layer 42, the foreign matter moves toward the strip-shaped metal foil 11, and the foreign matter pierces the strip-shaped metal foil 11 to which the tension is applied. Occurrence can be suppressed.

  (6) In a state where the resin sheet 46 is bonded to the roller body 41, a gap S is generated between the third side 46c and the fourth side 46d of the resin sheet 46. For this reason, when the resin sheet 46 is peeled off from the roller body 41, the resin sheet 46 can be easily peeled off from the roller body 41 by using the gap S.

  (7) The transport rollers 30 and 40 are not rotated by a driving device or the like, but are rotated along with the transport of the electrode material 13. For this reason, if a scraper or the like is slidably contacted to remove foreign matter adhering to the surfaces of the transport rollers 30 and 40, the transport rollers 30 and 40 are difficult to rotate, which is not preferable. In the present embodiment, by providing the surface layer 42b, it is possible to suppress adhesion of foreign matters to the surfaces of the transport rollers 30 and 40 without causing a scraper or the like to come into sliding contact, and the transport function due to the rotation of the transport rollers 30 and 40 is also reduced. You don't have to.

  (8) The rollers for adhering the resin sheet 46 and providing the resin layer 42 were transport rollers 30 and 40 for the electrode material 13. Unlike the press roll, the transport rollers 30 and 40 are not subjected to a press load. Therefore, when the resin sheet 46 is bonded to the roller body 41, a gap S may be generated between the third side 46c and the fourth side 46d of the resin sheet 46. Therefore, it is not necessary to bond the resin sheet 46 to the roller body 41 with high accuracy so that the gap S is not formed between the third side 46c and the fourth side 46d, and the bonding operation of the resin sheet 46 can be easily performed. This leads to improved maintainability.

  (9) The surface layer 42b includes a fixed lubricant in addition to PEEK having high adhesion resistance. For this reason, the lubricity of the surface layer 42b can be increased by the solid lubricant, the adhesion resistance of the surface layer 42b can be improved, and foreign matter can be further prevented from adhering to the surface layer 42b.

In addition, you may change the said embodiment as follows.
The planar shape of the resin sheet 46 is not limited to the parallelogram described in the embodiment, and may be changed as appropriate.

  The method of adhering the resin sheet 46 to the roller body 41 may be appropriately changed according to the ease of peeling off the resin sheet 46, the ease of adhering, etc. For example, the third side 46c of the resin sheet 46 The fourth side 46d may overlap.

In the resin layer 42, the adhesive layer 42a is not limited to a form including PEEK and PEI, but may be appropriately changed. The adhesive layer 42a may be a form including an epoxy resin.
In the resin layer 42, the surface layer 42b may not include a solid lubricant. When the surface layer 42b is made of only PEEK, it is preferable to select a material that can withstand high temperatures, such as iron, as the material of the roller body 41 because the melting point of PEEK is very high. Further, when the surface layer 42b does not include a fixed lubricant, the adhesive layer 42a is not limited to a form including PEEK and PEI, and the adhesive layer 42a may be a form including an epoxy resin.

  The transport rollers 30 and 40 may be used when transporting the electrode material 13 fed from the press take-up reel 31 during the molding process. That is, the transport rollers 30 and 40 may be used in electrode manufacturing equipment other than the drying device 38 and the press device 32 of the embodiment.

When the resin sheet 46 is peeled from the roller body 41, the gap S between the third side 46c and the fourth side 46d of the resin sheet 46 may not be used.
The strip-shaped current collector is not limited to the strip-shaped metal foil 11 as long as the active material mixture can be applied. For example, a woven or net-like substrate sheet may be used.

  ○ The active material mixture was applied intermittently by applying an interval in the longitudinal direction of the strip-shaped metal foil 11, but the active material mixture was continuously applied in the longitudinal direction of the strip-shaped metal foil 11. It may be a craft.

  The electrode may have an active material layer only on one side of the metal foil. In this case, the coating process, the drying process, the pressing process, the vacuum drying process, and the forming process are performed only on one surface of the strip-shaped metal foil 11, and the coating portion 12 is formed only on one surface of the strip-shaped metal foil 11. The electrode material 13 is transported by the transport rollers 30 and 40.

The electrode for a power storage device may be an electrode used for a power storage device such as a nickel metal hydride secondary battery or an electric double layer capacitor.
Next, the technical idea that can be grasped from the above embodiment and other examples will be described below.

(A) The power storage device is a secondary battery and is a transport roller for electrode manufacturing equipment.
(B) The resin sheet has a surface layer covering the surface of the adhesive layer, and the surface layer is a transport roller for electrode manufacturing equipment including a solid lubricant.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Strip | belt-shaped metal foil as a strip | belt-shaped collector, 12 ... Coating part, 13 ... Electrode material, 30, 40 ... Conveyance roller for electrode manufacturing equipment, 32 ... Press apparatus as electrode manufacturing equipment, 38a ... Electrode manufacturing equipment As a drying furnace, 41... Roller body, 42... Resin layer, 42 a... Adhesive layer, 46.

Claims (3)

A transport roller for an electrode manufacturing facility for transporting an electrode material having an active material mixture coating portion formed on at least one surface of a belt-like current collector in order to manufacture an electrode for a power storage device by the electrode manufacturing facility. ,
The roller body,
A resin layer provided on the outer peripheral surface of the roller body,
The resin layer is provided by adhering a resin sheet to the outer peripheral surface of the roller body,
The said resin sheet is a conveyance roller for electrode manufacturing facilities which has the adhesion resistance with respect to a foreign material on the surface.   The said electrode manufacturing equipment is a drying furnace for drying the said coating part, The conveyance roller for electrode manufacturing equipment of Claim 1 installed in this drying furnace.   The transport roller for electrode manufacturing equipment according to claim 2, wherein the resin sheet has an adhesive layer on a back surface, and the adhesive layer contains polyether ether ketone.