Clamping apparatus of battery cell comprising fixing jig employed with guide block for alignment of battery cell

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a battery cell clamping device to fix and clamp two or more battery cells in a process of clamping and baking the battery cells arranged in one direction, including fixing jigs interposed between the battery cells, a pressure applying part configured to clamp a cell arrangement by applying a pressure with the fixing jigs interposed, and a base having a structure supporting the cell arrangement in a direction against the pressure applied from the pressure applying part in a state in which the cell arrangement is disposed on an upper surface of the base, wherein each of the fixing jigs is formed with guide blocks to align the battery cell at a fixed position on the jig in such a manner that the guide block abuts at least two side surfaces of the battery cell which are extended with respect to each other.

Claims

1. A battery cell clamping device configured to fix and clamp two or more battery cells in a process of clamping and baking the battery cells arranged in one direction, comprising: fixing jigs interposed between the battery cells; a pressure applying part configured to clamp a cell arrangement, which is arranged with the fixing jigs interposed, by applying a pressure from one surface of the cell arrangement toward a direction of the other surface opposite to the one surface; and a base having a structure supporting the cell arrangement in a direction against the pressure applied from the pressure applying part in a state in which the cell arrangement is disposed on an upper surface of the base, wherein each of the fixing jigs is formed with guide blocks to align a given battery cell at a fixed position on the each of the fixing jigs in such a manner that each guide block abuts at least two side surfaces of the given battery cell which are extended with respect to each other, wherein the each of the fixing jigs includes a rectangular plate on which the given battery cell is seated, and the each guide block protrudes in a vertical direction from one surface of the rectangular plate on which the given battery cell is seated, and wherein a protruding height of the each guide block is less than a thickness of the given battery cell to allow the pressure applying part to apply the pressure to the battery cells when clamped.

2. The battery cell clamping device of claim 1, wherein the each guide block is detachably mounted on the rectangular plate by mechanical fastening.

3. The battery cell clamping device of claim 1, wherein the each guide block is formed integrally with the rectangular plate.

4. The battery cell clamping device of claim 1, wherein the each guide block has an L-bracket-shape on a plane to abut two side surfaces of the given battery cell which form any corner thereof.

5. The battery cell clamping device of claim 1, wherein the each guide block comprises a first block and a second block, each of which is located on both of partitioned sides when a plane of the rectangular plate is symmetrically partitioned by a diagonal line; and the first block and the second block are disposed at different corners of the given battery cell with respect to the diagonal line.

6. The battery cell clamping device of claim 1, wherein the protruding height of the each guide block is 10% to 50% of the thickness of the given battery cell.

7. The battery cell clamping device of claim 1, wherein the cell arrangement is clamped in a fixed state so that a distance between adjacent fixing jigs with one battery cell therebetween is equal to a difference between a thickness of the one battery cell and a height of the each guide block which seats the one battery cell.

8. The battery cell clamping device of claim 1, wherein the pressure applied by the pressure applying part is uniformly distributed to front surfaces of the battery cells mounted on the fixing jigs in a state in which the battery cells are aligned at the fixed positions by the guide blocks.

9. The battery cell clamping device of claim 1, wherein the number of battery cells in the cell arrangement is equal to the number of fixing jigs.

10. The battery cell clamping device of claim 1, wherein the base comprises: a base plate on which the cell arrangement is disposed; and a supporting outer wall vertically protruding from an upper surface of the base plate to support the battery cell arrangement against the pressure applied from the pressure applying part.

11. A method of clamping battery cells using the battery cell clamping device of claim 1, comprising: a) a process of forming the cell arrangement by arranging two or more battery cells in one direction in a state in which the two or more battery cells are mounted on the fixing jigs to fix each of the battery cells to the guide blocks; b) a process of placing the cell arrangement on the upper surface of a base plate of the base so that one surface of the cell arrangement corresponding to an arrangement direction faces a supporting outer wall of the base; and c) a process of fixing and clamping the battery cells by applying the pressure from a direction opposite to the supporting outer wall on the other surface of the cell arrangement through the pressure applying part.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the cell arrangement in process c) is clamped in a fixed state so that a distance between adjacent fixing jigs with one battery cell therebetween is equal to a difference between a thickness of the one battery cell and a height of the each guide block which seats the one battery cell.

13. The battery cell clamping device of claim 2, wherein the each guide block includes at least one screw groove, and wherein the rectangular plate includes a plurality of screw grooves corresponding to the at least one screw groove of the each guide block to allow a mounting position of the each guide block to be adjustable on the one surface of the rectangular plate on which the given battery cell is seated.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The following drawings accompanying the specification illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, and serve to enable technical concepts of the present disclosure to be further understood together with a detailed description of the disclosure given below, and therefore the present disclosure is not to be interpreted only with matters in such drawings.

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a clamping device according to the related art.

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a battery cell clamping device according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

(4) FIGS. 3 and 4 are exemplary schematic views of a fixing jig.

(5) FIG. 5 is an exemplary schematic view of a cell arrangement according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the disclosure will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

(7) FIG. 2 is a schematic view schematically showing a structure of a battery cell clamping device according to one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

(8) A battery cell clamping device 200 includes fixing jigs 220 interposed between battery cells 210, a pressure applying part 240 configured to clamp a cell arrangement 230 by applying a pressure from one surface of the cell arrangement 230 toward a direction of the other surface opposite to the one surface which is arranged with the fixing jigs 220 interposed, and a base 250 having a structure configured to support the cell arrangement 230 in a direction against the pressure applied from the pressure applying part 240 in a state in which the cell arrangement 230 is disposed on an upper surface of the base 250.

(9) The base 250 includes a base plate 251 and a supporting outer wall 252.

(10) The battery cell arrangement 230 is disposed on an upper surface of the base plate 251.

(11) The supporting outer wall 252 has a flat plate-shaped structure protruding vertically in a direction of the upper surface of the base plate 251 at one side end part of the base plate 251 to support the battery cell arrangement 230 against the pressure applied from the pressure applying part 240 in a state facing the battery cell 210 positioned at an outermost position of the cell arrangement 230.

(12) The fixing jig 220 includes guide blocks 260 which align the battery cell 210 at a fixed position on the jig.

(13) In relation to this, FIGS. 3 and 4 are exemplary schematic views of the fixing jig.

(14) Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, each of the fixing jigs 220 may include a rectangular plate-shaped plate 264 on which the battery cell 210 is seated, and the guide block 260 protrudes in a vertical direction from one surface of the plate 264 on which the battery cell 210 is seated.

(15) The guide block 260 also includes a first block 260a and a second block 260b, each of which is located on each of divided sides when the plane of the plate-shaped plate 264 is symmetrically partitioned by an imaginary diagonal line S.

(16) The first block 260a and the second block 260b may have an L-bracket-shape on the plane to abut two side surfaces of the battery cell 210 which form any corner thereof, and may be located at different corners of the battery cell 210 with respect to the diagonal line S.

(17) Accordingly, the first block 260a and the second block 260b may restrict upward 1, downward 2, rightward 3, and leftward 4 movements of the battery cell by fixing corners of the battery cell 210 which are symmetrical with respect to the diagonal line rather than corners of the battery cell 210 which are positioned parallel to each other.

(18) The first block 260a and the second block 260b protrude in the vertical direction from the one surface of the plate 264 on which the battery cell 210 is seated.

(19) Here, the first block 260a and the second block 260b are detachably mounted on the plate 264 by screws (not shown) or bolts (not shown), and the guide block 260 and the plate are formed with screw grooves 262 that correspond with each other.

(20) In particular, a plurality of spare screw grooves 263 are formed in the plate so that a coupling position of the guide block 260 is adjustable based on a size of the battery cell.

(21) Accordingly, the fixing jig 220 according to the present disclosure is configured to fix battery cells of various sizes by varying coupling positions of the first block 260a and the second block 260b based on the size of the battery cell 210.

(22) FIG. 5 is an exemplary schematic view of a cell arrangement 230 according to the present disclosure.

(23) Referring to FIG. 5, the number of battery cells 210 in the cell arrangement 230 is equal to the number of fixing jigs 220. The cell arrangement 230 is formed by interposing the battery cell fixing jigs 220 between the battery cells 210, and a thickness of the battery cell may be compressed as the battery cell is pressed by an adjacent fixing jig in a clamping process.

(24) It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.