Claims: We Claim:
1. A Bernoulli battery sleeve gripper for assembly of a non-uniform surface sleeve, the gripper comprising at least one pair of opposingly positioned grippers for temporarily holding the sleeve and a pressure means coupled to each of the pairs, characterised in that each of the gripper is subjected to a differential pressure in order to achieve a uniform pressure distribution across the sleeve.
2. The gripper as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gripper is configured for opening the sleeve for insertion of an electrode plate into the sleeve.
3. A Bernoulli battery sleeve assembler, the assembler comprising:
a first driven means for loading a stack of electrode
plates;
a second driven means for loading a plurality of sleeves;
a conveyor operatively coupled to the first means and the second means; and
a Bernoulli battery sleeve gripper positioned perpendicular to the plane of the conveyor;
wherein the battery sleeve assembler is configured for an automated insertion of the electrode plate into the sleeve.
4. The assembler as claimed in claim 3, wherein the assembler is provided with an exit collection tray for receiving the plate inserted sleeve.

Bangalore Narendra Bhatta HL
10th July 2019 Intellocopia IP Services
Agent For Applicant
, Description:A BERNOULLI BATTERY SLEEVE ASSEMBLER

FIELD OF INVENTION
The invention generally relates to the field of mechanical engineering and more particularly to a Bernoulli battery sleeve assembler for automated insertion of an electrode plate into the battery sleeve.
BACKGROUND
Lead Acid Batteries are one of the major power sources for household and industrial electrical backup power systems, starting automotive engines, forklifts, traction, etc. A lead-acid battery is an electrochemical storage device that uses a chemical process to create and store electrical energy, which gets supplied to electric devices when required, such as power failure. A tubular lead acid battery is a type of Lead Acid Battery. It is mainly used for static electrical energy storage applications such as backup power for UPS, wind, solar energy and other industrial applications. The tubular lead acid battery contains two different lead-based plates, where one plate is a negative electrode plate made of lead and another plate is a positive electrode plate that is made of lead oxide. These electrode plates are alternatively immersed in sulphuric acid electrolyte to generate DC current by means of chemical reactions. To avoid short circuit between alternatively arranged electrode plates and also to allow proper flow of electrolyte, a permeable and non conductive separator is used. In general, the separators used are Poly-Ethylene (PE), absorbed Glass-mat (AGM) and the like separators. In tubular battery, the separation is achieved by covering the negative plate into the separator sleeve. To accommodate this insertion, the separator is converted to sleeve shape from a plain roll. In order to insert the negative electrode plate into the separator envelope, conventionally, a person manually opens the separator envelope and inserts the electrode plate. The manual insertion of the plates into the separators causes damage to the edges of plates and also leads to failure of the battery. Further, the manual insertion requires more number of employees to meet the target in production of the battery, which results in economic loss and manual insertion also causes health hazards to employees. To overcome these evident disadvantages, there is a machine available in the art that automatically inserts the plate into a sleeve. The said machine inserts a pair of insertion protrusions, a pair of left and right opening levers and a pair of upper and lower leverage levers into the sleeve. The opening of the sleeve is achieved by the rotational movement of the pairs of the upper and lower levers, and left and right levers. The automatic opening of the sleeve, described herein, includes multiple mechanical complications and is time consuming. In another system known in the art, a suction cup is used to hold and lift the materials from one position to another position. The normal suction cup cannot hold the surface of the sleeve unless the surface is uniform. Hence there is a need for a machine for automatic insertion of the electrode plates into the non-uniform sleeves.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
So that the manner in which the recited features of the invention can be understood in detail, some of the embodiments are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
FIG.1 shows a Bernoulli battery sleeve assembler, according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG.2 shows a top view of the battery sleeve assembler, according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 3 shows a side view of the battery sleeve assembler, according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG.4 shows the top and the side view of the battery sleeve assembler during pre insertion of an electrode plate into a sleeve, according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG.5 shows the top and the side view of the battery sleeve assembler during post insertion of the electrode plate into the sleeve, according to an embodiment of the invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One aspect of the invention provides a Bernoulli battery sleeve assembler with a Bernoulli battery sleeve gripper for automated insertion of an electrode plate in to a battery sleeve. The battery sleeve assembler includes a first driven means for loading a stack of electrode plates, a second driven means for loading a plurality of sleeves, a conveyor operatively coupled to the first means and the second means, and a Bernoulli battery sleeve gripper positioned perpendicular to the plane of the conveyor. The Bernoulli gripper includes at least one pair of opposingly positioned grippers for temporarily holding the sleeve and a pressure means coupled to each of the pairs, characterised in that each of the gripper is subjected to a differential pressure in order to achieve a uniform pressure distribution across the sleeve.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Various embodiments of the invention provide a battery sleeve assembler with a Bernoulli battery sleeve gripper for automated insertion of a battery electrode plate into a non-uniform sleeve. The process of automatic insertion of battery electrode plate and the assembler shall be explained as embodiments of the invention, herein below.
FIG.1 shows a Bernoulli battery sleeve assembler, according to an embodiment of the invention. The battery sleeve assembler includes a first driven means 1 for loading a stack of electrode plates 2 and a second driven means 3 for loading a plurality of sleeves 4, a conveyor 5 operatively coupled to the first means 1 and the second means 3, and a Bernoulli battery sleeve gripper 7 positioned perpendicular to the plane of the conveyor 5. In one example of the invention, the first driven means 1 and the second driven means 3 are conveyors. The electrode plate described herein includes but is not limited to a negative electrode. The sleeve described herein includes but is not limited to a Poly-Ethylene (PE), an absorbed Glass-mat (AGM) and the like sleeves. In one embodiment of the invention, the sleeve is a non-uniform surface sleeve. During the process of automatic insertion of the electrode plate into the sleeve, a stack of negative electrode plates 2, about 100 in numbers, are loaded on the first driven means 1. The plates further move on and get placed on a first servo motor driven lift table 9. The sleeves 4, about 100 numbers, are loaded on the second driven means 3 and then placed on a second servo motor driven lift table 11. The vacuum suction cups 6a and 6b, mounted on an arm, lift one negative electrode plate 2a and one sleeve 4a from their respective lift tables 9 and 11 and place them on a chain operated motorised conveyor 5, which is operatively coupled to the first driven means 1 and the second driven means 3. A Bernoulli battery sleeve gripper 7 for assembly of a non-uniform surface sleeve is positioned perpendicular to the plane of the conveyor 5. The Bernoulli battery sleeve gripper 7 includes at least one pair of opposingly positioned grippers (7a, 7b) for temporarily holding the sleeve and a pressure means 13 (not shown) coupled to each of the pairs 7a and 7b. In one embodiment of the invention, the pair of grippers (7a, 7b) is placed above and below the front edge of the sleeve 4a. The pressure means 13 described herein includes but is not limited to a pneumatic cylinder.
Once the sleeve is placed on the conveyor 5, the pair of grippers (7a, 7b), placed below and above the front edge of the sleeve 4a, operates and holds the top and bottom of front edge of sleeve. In one example of the invention, the top gripper 7a is moved up by about 10mm with pneumatic cylinder13 actuation. Further, the negative electrode plate 2a is moved by the conveyor 5 using lugs placed on the chain for positive movement of plate and inserted in to the sleeve straight with spring actuated side guides aiding smooth insertion. Once the electrode plate 2a is completely inserted into the sleeve, the top and bottom grippers 7a and 7b are released and the top gripper is moved up. The plate inserted sleeve is then moved on the conveyor to an exit collection tray (not shown). The process is repeated until the entire electrode plates in the stack are inserted into the sleeves.
FIG.2 shows a top view of the battery sleeve assembler, according to an embodiment of the invention. The top view of the battery sleeve assembler shows right and left spring actuated side guides 15a and 15b respectively for guiding the electrode plate 2a into the sleeve 4a. The assembler is provided with a right width adjustment screw 17a, a left width adjustment screw 17b, springs 19a and 19b to accommodate different sizes of electrode plates and battery sleeves. The pair of grippers (7a, 7b) for temporarily holding the sleeve 4a and a pressure means 13 coupled to each of the pairs is also shown in the figure. In one example, the pressure means is a vertical cylinder. Each of the gripper is subjected to a differential pressure in order to achieve a uniform pressure distribution across the non-uniform surface sleeve.
FIG. 3 shows a side view of the battery assembler, according to an embodiment of the invention. The pair of grippers (7a, 7b) are positioned perpendicular to the plane of the chain operated motorised conveyor 5. One of the grippers 7a is placed above the front edge of the sleeve 4a and another gripper 7b is placed below the front edge of the sleeve 4a.
FIG.4 generally shows the battery sleeve assembler during pre insertion of the electrode plate, according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG.4a shows the top view of the battery sleeve assembler during the pre insertion of the electrode plate into the sleeve, according to an embodiment of the invention. The negative electrode plate 2a and the sleeve 4a are placed on the chain operated motorised conveyor 5. The negative electrode plate 2a starts moving towards the sleeve 4a. The grippers 7a and 7b opens the front edge of the sleeve 4a through suction method. The left side spring actuated side guide 15a and the right side spring actuated side guide 15b aids in attaining smooth insertion of the plate into the sleeve 4a.
FIG.4b shows the side view of the battery sleeve assembler during the pre insertion of the electrode plate into the sleeve, according to an embodiment of the invention. The grippers (7a, 7b) are placed above and below the front edge of the sleeve 4a and are configured to hold the top and bottom of the front edge of the sleeve 4a. Further, the top gripper 7a is attached to the vertical cylinder 13 and moved up by about 10mm to open the front edge of the sleeve 4a. The negative electrode plate 2a is then moved smoothly through the chain operated motorised conveyor 5 towards the sleeve 4a.
FIG.5 generally shows the battery assembler during post insertion of the electrode plate.
FIG.5a shows the top view of the battery assembler during the post insertion of the electrode plate into the sleeve, according to an embodiment of the invention. The negative electrode plate 2a on the chain operated motorised conveyor 5 is moved forward and automatically inserted into the opened sleeve 4a with the help of right and left side guides 21a and 21b. After insertion, the right side spring actuated side guide 15a and the left side spring actuated side guide 15b are bend backward to the normal position to allow automatic insertion of next electrode negative plate.
FIG.5b shows the side view of the battery assembler during the post insertion of the electrode plate into the sleeve, according to an embodiment of the invention. Once negative electrode plate 2a is fully inserted into the sleeve 4a with the help of side guides (21a, 21b), the top and bottom respective grippers7a and7b are released and the top gripper 7a is moved up with the vertical cylinder 13. The plate inserted sleeve 8 is moved on the motorised conveyor 5 to an exit collection tray.
Industrial Application:
Initially a stack of negative electrode plates, about 100 in numbers, are loaded onto the first driven means. The plates further move on and get placed on the first servo motor driven lift table. The sleeves, about 100 numbers, are loaded onto the second driven means and then placed on the second servo motor driven lift table. Further, the vacuum suction cups, mounted on an arm, lift one negative electrode plate and one sleeve from their respective lift tables and place them on the chain operated motorised conveyor. Once the sleeve is placed on the conveyor, the pair of grippers, placed below and above the front edge of the sleeve, operates and hold the top and bottom of front edge of sleeve. In one example of the invention, the top gripper is moved up by about 10mm with pneumatic cylinder actuation. Further, the negative electrode plate is moved by the conveyor using lugs placed on the chain for positive movement of the plate and inserted into the sleeve with spring actuated side guides aiding smooth insertion. Once the electrode plate is completely inserted into the sleeve, the top and bottom grippers are released and the top gripper is moved up. The plate inserted sleeve is then moved on the conveyor to an exit collection tray. The process is repeated until the entire electrode plates in the stack are inserted into the sleeves.
The foregoing description of the invention has been set for merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the scope and substance of the invention may occur to person skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.