|Publication number||US7000665 B2|
|Application number||US 10/666,045|
|Publication date||Feb 21, 2006|
|Filing date||Sep 22, 2003|
|Priority date||Sep 18, 2003|
|Also published as||CA2536745A1, CA2536745C, CA2761286A1, CA2761286C, EP1665442A1, US7967939, US20050061426, US20060081328, WO2005027252A1|
|Publication number||10666045, 666045, US 7000665 B2, US 7000665B2, US-B2-7000665, US7000665 B2, US7000665B2|
|Inventors||Michael Parker, Gilles Gagnon|
|Original Assignee||Avestor Limited Partnership|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (9), Referenced by (6), Classifications (45), Legal Events (4)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 120 from international PCT Application No. PCT/CA2003/001480 filed on Sep. 18, 2003 by Parker et al. and designating the United States of America.
The present invention relates generally to the manufacturing of polymer batteries and more specifically to an apparatus and method for stacking polymer electrochemical laminates to form polymer electrochemical cells that are constituents of a polymer battery.
Rechargeable batteries manufactured from laminates of solid polymer electrolytes and sheet-like anodes and cathodes display many advantages over conventional liquid electrolyte batteries. These advantages include lower overall battery weight, high power density, high specific energy, longer service life, as well as being environmentally friendly since the danger of spilling toxic liquid into the environment is eliminated.
Solid polymer electrochemical cell components include positive electrodes, negative electrodes and a separator material capable of permitting ionic conductivity such as a solid polymer electrolyte sandwiched between each anode and cathode. The anodes (or negative electrodes) and cathodes (or positive electrodes) are made of material capable of reversibly intercalating alkali metal ions.
Such an advanced battery system typically consists of a series of extremely thin film laminates of anode material, polymer electrolyte separator, cathode material and current collector assembled together as a multi-layer construction in either a flat roll configuration, a jelly roll configuration or a flat stack configuration to form a battery. Individual electrochemical laminates are typically mono-face or bi-face. A mono-face electrochemical laminate consists of a current collector, a cathode, a polymer electrolyte separator, and an anode covered with an insulating polypropylene film to insulate the electrochemical laminate from the adjacent one for preventing short circuits. A bi-face electrochemical laminate consists of a central current collector having a cathode layer on both sides, a polymer electrolyte separator adjacent each cathode layer, and an anode layer adjacent each electrolyte separator. In a bi-face laminate, the insulating polypropylene film is eliminated since the risk of short-circuits between the anode and the cathode of adjacent laminates is removed. A bi-face laminate assembly typically provides a higher energy density.
For large batteries (500 gr or more), the preferred configuration is a flat stacked multi-layer assembly of bi-face laminate for its high energy density and for its ability to be shaped into a limited volume.
Numerous methods of assembling laminates into cells and batteries have been devised and/or investigated. U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,746 discloses a method of assembling the anode, cathode, current collector and electrolyte separator layers are co-laminated using a series of pressure rollers, the assembly thereafter being coiled to form a battery; however, the assembly could be cut and stacked.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,421 discloses a previously laminated mother-battery containing an anode of metallic lithium or sodium, a composite cathode, a polymer electrolyte that acts as a separator between the electrodes, and a current collector. The laminated mother-battery is thereafter subjected to a sharp mechanical cutting out to give thin polymer electrolyte batteries.
These documents disclose how to assemble the laminates themselves but do not teach precisely how to properly superpose or flat-stack the laminates to form batteries.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,547,229 discloses a stacking apparatus and method employing one or more stations, each including a stationary stacking platform or a conveyor upon which spaced-apart pucks are coupled for travel thereon. A product delivery apparatus drives one or more movable webs to which segmented product sheets are removably affixed. The product delivery apparatus includes one or more rotatable lamination interfaces associated with each of the stations for transferring product sheets from the webs to the pucks on a repetitive basis to produce a stack of product sheets on the respective pucks. Each of the segmented product sheets may define all or a portion of an electrochemical cell, the latter including layers of film or sheet material, wherein a portion of each of the layers is provided with a bonding feature. A puck need not be in motion during the transfer of the product sheet from the lamination roll to the puck. The puck may or may not be attached to a conveyor, but the conveyor need not be in motion during the lamination or stack building process. In this case, a roller is moved across the puck and simultaneously rotated so a point on the surface of the roller interfaces with the puck at the same location on each pass.
WO 02/43179 discloses an apparatus and method for rotatably cutting and/or laminating layered structures or sheet material supported by webs. A rotary converting apparatus and method converts a web comprising a cathode layered structure and a web comprising an anode layered structure into a series of layered electrochemical cell structures supported by a release liner. Employment of a rotary converting process provides for the creation of a product having a finished size, without need for downstream or subsequent cutting.
These two documents disclose methods of stacking components of laminates using a rotary device. This type of rotating mechanism is however often unreliable to produce precise assembly.
There are numerous difficulties to overcome when stacking extremely thin sheets together to produce electrochemical cells. First, each layer must be precisely aligned with the other layers in order to have a properly assembled stack that can be electrically connected with ease and within which no electrical short circuit will occur due to misalignment of the plurality of layers. A rotary system is inherently unable to provide the precise stacking of each layer required for electrochemical cell assembly. Secondly, when stacking the various layers of the electrochemical cell together, it is imperative that air not be trapped between two layers. Air entrapment will prevent proper contact between the various layers thereby reducing the capacity of the electrochemical cell as well as creating uneven surfaces that may cause further problems in subsequent assembly steps. Thirdly, the components, i.e. thin films of cathode, anode and electrolyte separator, are sticky and are difficult to handle without ripping or corrupting.
Thus there is a need in the polymer battery industry for an efficient method and apparatus for stacking polymer electrochemical laminates and constituents thereof to form polymer electrochemical cells and batteries.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a stacking apparatus for assembly of electrochemical cells comprising:
Advantageously, the adjustable holding member comprises a substantially flat plate made of a micro-porous material through which a vacuum system generates a negative pressure that holds the pre-determined length of electrochemical laminate.
As embodied and broadly described, the invention further provides a process for assembling a plurality of electrochemical laminates to form a battery comprising the steps of:
As embodied and broadly described, the invention also provides a process for assembling a plurality of electrochemical laminates to form a battery wherein the electrochemical laminates are in a charged state when being assembled one above the other.
The invention will be better understood and other advantages will appear by means of the following description and the following drawings in which:
In order to efficiently assemble electrochemical cell 10, the central portion of the electrochemical laminate 12 is first assembled. Cathode films 16 and 18 are applied on both sides of a continuous length of current collector sheet or foil 14 which is typically a metal foil, such as an aluminum foil, to form a continuous length of cathode films coated on both sides of current collector 14. Subsequently, polymer electrolyte separator films 20 and 22 are layered over each continuous length of cathode films 16 and 18 to form the core or half-cell 25 of laminate 12. Hereafter, an anode thin sheet 26 is applied to only one side of half-cell 25 of laminate 12 as illustrated in
The continuous length of pre-assembly 30 is then brought to a stacking apparatus where it is cut in appropriate lengths ranging from 10 cm to 80 cm depending on the electrochemical cell configuration and thereafter stacked one on top of each other to form an electrochemical cell 10.
In a one specific embodiment, the stacking apparatus 40 comprises a stacking head 45 slideably mounted on a upper girder 46 itself mounted on a fixed supporting structure 47 and adapted to move forward and backward on the fixed supporting structure 47. The stacking head 45 is adapted to move sideways and vertically relative to the girder 46. In combination with the forward and backward movement of the girder 46, the stacking head 45 is adapted to move along all three axes X, Y and Z. The movements of the stacking head 45 along the various axes are effected by sliding or rolling connections and are powered by any means know to the person skilled in the art, for example by pneumatic, hydraulic or precision electric motors. All through the assembly process, the movements of stacking head 45 are controlled precisely by a positioning system of coordinates X, Y and Z. The stacking head 45 comprises a pair of holding members 48 adapted to securely hold pre-assembly laminate 30 without damaging its fragile layers. Each holding member 48 is mounted onto a rotating bracket 50 rotatably mounted on the stacking head 45 through a slot system 82, 84. The rotating brackets 50 are adapted to control the angular positions of each holding member 48 relative to one another and relative to the horizontal axis. A mechanical, hydraulic or pneumatic system (not shown) controls the rotation of rotating brackets 50 and therefore the angular positions of each holding member 48.
As illustrated in
Referring back to
Stacking head 45 is then moved forward and is positioned over a carriage platform 80. The surface 86 of the carriage platform 80 is treated with plasma deposition to prevent the pre-assembly laminate 30 from sticking to it. Stacking head 45 then moves down and deposits the pre-assembly laminate 30 onto the carriage platform 80 to form the first layer of the electrochemical cell 10. Stacking head 45 then moves back to its initial position where the cycle previously described is repeated. A second pre-assembly laminate 30 is deposited onto the previously laid pre-assembly laminate 30 to form a complete bi-face electrochemical laminate 12 as illustrated in
Stacking apparatus 40 is shown and described with a single stacking head 45; however, a plurality of stacking heads 45 may be installed side by side in the supporting structure 47 such that a plurality of electrochemical cells 10 may be assembled simultaneously. In this embodiment, there are as many rotary knife 76/anvil 74 assemblies as there are stacking heads 45. The continuous length of pre-assembly laminate 30 is gripped by the pincer 44 and pulls a pre-determined length of the pre-assembly laminate 30 into position in front of the plurality of stacking heads 45 and onto a plurality of aligned smooth surfaces 72 located immediately in front of each of the plurality of stacking heads 45. One rotary knife 76/anvil 74 assembly is positioned adjacent each of the plurality of stacking heads 45. In operation, the stacking heads 45 are then moved forward over the length of pre-assembly laminate 30 and are lowered onto the pre-assembly laminate 30 which it holds securely onto surfaces 72 while the rotary knife 76/anvils 74 assemblies are rolled onto the pre-assembly laminate 30 adjacent each stacking head 45 to cut the pre-assembly laminate 30 to pre-determined lengths. Thereafter, the stacking heads 45 lift their respective portion of the cut pre-assembly laminate 30 as previously described and stack them onto a plurality of carriage platforms 80, one for each stacking head 45 in the same manner previously described. In this embodiment of the stacking apparatus 40, the movements of the plurality of stacking heads 45 are also controlled precisely by a positioning system of coordinates X, Y and Z throughout the assembly process.
Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular variations thereof, other variation and modifications are contemplated and are within the scope of the present invention. Therefore the present invention is not to be limited by the above description but is defined by the appended claims.
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|U.S. Classification||156/443, 156/264, 156/563, 270/52.12, 156/517, 270/58.01, 156/558, 156/512|
|International Classification||H01M8/2404, B32B37/00, B29C65/00, B32B38/18, H01M6/42, H01M10/44, H01M10/04, H01M6/18|
|Cooperative Classification||Y10T29/49112, Y10T29/53135, Y10T156/1075, Y10T156/1749, Y10T156/1322, Y10T156/1052, Y10T156/13, Y10T156/1761, Y10T156/12, Y10T156/1744, H01M2/266, H01M10/0413, H01M10/0404, H01M10/0445, B32B37/003, B32B38/1866, B32B2457/10, H01M10/0436, B32B38/1858, H01M10/052, H01M6/42, H01M10/44|
|European Classification||B32B38/18C, H01M2/26D, H01M10/04B, H01M10/04A, H01M10/04G, B32B37/00A6, H01M10/04F|
|Nov 25, 2005||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: AVESTOR LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, CANADA
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:PARKER, MICHAEL;GAGNON, GILLES;REEL/FRAME:017244/0098;SIGNING DATES FROM 20031126 TO 20031210
|Jul 31, 2008||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: BATHIUM CANADA INC., CANADA
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:AVESTOR LIMITED PARTNERSHIP;REEL/FRAME:021316/0177
Effective date: 20080604
Owner name: BATHIUM CANADA INC.,CANADA
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:AVESTOR LIMITED PARTNERSHIP;REEL/FRAME:021316/0177
Effective date: 20080604
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