【Technical Field】
5 CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent
Application No. 10-2020-0180717 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office
on December 22, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by
reference.
10 The present invention relates to a jig for manufacturing a rechargeable
battery, and more specifically, to a jig for manufacturing a rechargeable battery
that may prevent a gasket from being damaged by welding in a rechargeable
battery including a sealing gasket.
【Background Art】
15 Recently, a demand for portable electronic products such as laptop
computers, video cameras, mobile phones, and the like is rapidly increasing,
and development of electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, robots, and
satellites is active, thus many researches on rechargeable batteries used as a
driving power source therefor have been performed.
20 The electrode assembly installed in a battery case is a generating
element that is configured with a stacked structure including a positive electrode,
a separation membrane, and a negative electrode and that may be repeatedly
charged and discharged, and it is classified into a jelly roll type, a stack type, and
3
a stack/folding type. The jelly roll type is a structure obtained by interposing a
separation membrane between long sheet-type positive and negative electrodes
coated with an active material and then winding it, and the stack type is a
structure in which a plurality of positive and negative electrodes with a
5 predetermined size are sequentially stacked while a separation membrane is
interposed therebetween, while the stack/folding type is a mixed structure of the
jelly roll type and the stack type. Among them, the jelly roll type of electrode
assembly has high merits of easy manufacturing and high energy density per
unit weight.
10 The rechargeable battery is classified into a cylindrical battery in which
an electrode assembly is installed in a cylindrical metal can, a square-shaped
battery in which an electrode assembly is installed in a square-shaped metal can,
and a pouch-type battery in which an electrode assembly is installed in a
pouch-type case of an aluminum laminate sheet according to shapes of the
15 battery case. Among them, the cylindrical battery has a merit that it has
relatively high capacity and has a stable structure.
FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view for an upper part of a conventional
cylindrical rechargeable battery.
Referring to FIG. 1, a jelly roll-type electrode assembly 5 is
20 accommodated in a cylindrical case 2 and a cap assembly 3 is mounted on an
opened upper portion of the cylindrical case 2, thereby a cylindrical rechargeable
battery 1 may be manufactured.
The cap assembly 3 includes an upper end cap 31 and an internal
pressure reducing safety vent 32, and the upper end cap 31 may be closely
4
attached to the internal pressure reducing safety vent 32.
The safety vent 32 may be electrically connected to an electrode
assembly 5 through a current interrupt device (CID) 6. An edge of the current
interrupt device 6 may be surrounded by a CID gasket 7.
5 On the other hand, in relation to the coupling of the cap assembly 3 and
the cylindrical case 2, a gasket is positioned between the cap assembly 3 and
the cylindrical case 2, and then the upper end part of the cylindrical case 2 is
bent to form the crimping combination of the cap assembly 3 and the cylindrical
case 2. A crimping part 22 may be formed in the cylindrical case 2 by the
10 crimping coupling. Under the crimping part 22, for stable bonding of the cap
assembly 3 and to prevent the flow of the electrode assembly 5, a beading part
21 in which a part of the cylindrical case 2 is recessed in the central direction of
the electrode assembly 5 may be formed.
At this time, the gasket 4 is mounted on the inner surfaces of the
15 crimping part 22 and the beading part 21 to increase the sealing property
between the cap assembly 3 and the cylindrical case 2 . However, in
configuring a battery module or the like by connecting a plurality of cylindrical
rechargeable batteries 1, welding may be performed on the upper end cap 31 of
the cap assembly 3 or the upper end of the crimping part 22 of the cylindrical
20 case 2. At this time, damage to the gasket 4 may occur due to heat generated
during the welding process.
The damaged gasket 4 may cause a deterioration of the sealing ability of
the cylindrical rechargeable battery 1, and the electrolyte solution may leak
through the gap between the crimping part 22 and the gasket 4 or between the
5
cap assembly 3 and the gasket 4. The leaked electrolyte solution may cause
corrosion on the upper surface of the cylindrical rechargeable battery 1, and may
also cause a short circuit in the upper part of the cylindrical rechargeable battery
1.
5 【Disclosure】
【Technical Problem】
The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a jig for
manufacturing a rechargeable battery that can prevent the gasket from being
damaged by heat generated during the manufacturing process of the
10 rechargeable battery, particularly the welding.
However, the problem to be solved in the embodiments of the present
invention is not limited to the foregoing problem, and may be variously extended
in the scope of the technical spirit included in the present invention.
【Technical Solution】
15 A jig for manufacturing a rechargeable battery according to an
embodiment of the present invention includes: a plurality of pressing part for
pressing a circumference of a welding part of a cylindrical rechargeable battery;
and a jig plate supporting a plurality of pressing parts and including a flow path
for circulation of a refrigerant therein.
20 A cooling device that circulates the refrigerant into the inside of the jig
plate may be further included.
A plurality of pressing parts and the jig plate may include a copper alloy.
The copper alloy may include beryllium copper.
6
A plurality of pressing part may include a transmission part that transmits
a laser beam corresponding to the welding part.
The jig plate may include a plurality of transmission holes respectively
corresponding to the transmission part of each of a plurality of pressing parts.
5 The cylindrical rechargeable battery may include: an electrode assembly;
a battery case to which the electrode assembly is housed and having an opened
upper part; a cap assembly coupled to the opened upper part of the battery
case; a gasket positioned between the battery case and the cap assembly; and
a crimping part formed by crimping and coupling the battery case and the cap
10 assembly with the gasket interposed therebetween, and the welding part may be
an upper part of the crimping part.
In the welding part, the crimping part and the connecting member may be
coupled.
The connecting member may be electrically connected to a negative
15 electrode of the electrode assembly.
The connecting member may be a metal wire in a form of a ribbon, and
the width of the metal wire is 0.1 mm or more.
【Advantageous Effects】
According to embodiments of the present invention, when manufacturing
20 the rechargeable battery, even if the welding process is applied to the crimping
part of the upper part of the gasket and the temperature rises, it may be cooled
quickly, therefore it is possible to prevent the physical deformation of the gasket,
which is a polymer material, and it is possible to prevent the gasket from being
damaged.
7
The effects of the present invention are not limited to the foregoing
effects, and other non-mentioned effects will be clearly understood by those
skilled in the art from the description below.