JPH1040929A - Manufacture of li battery and li metal piece loading device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To certainly and easily load and carry an Li metal piece and manufacture an Li battery with its high reliability with good yielding by intervening a non-aqueous, mold releasing liquid at a metal needle tip end of a loading jig and an insertion portion of the Li metal piece. SOLUTION: When a non-aqueous, mold releasing liquid is supplied from a non-aqueous, mold releasing liquid supply nozzle 13, the liquid reaches a Li metal piece whose tip end is inserted along on outer circumference face of a metallic needle 11, and adhesive property of the Li metal piece 5 is relatively changed and easily released from the metallic needle 11 side. Since adhesive property of the metal piece 5 is lowered due to the mold release property of the non-aqueous, mold releasing liquid, it can be easily released from the metal piece 11. Since the face of the Li metal piece 5 which makes contact with an inner bottom face of a sealing body still holds good adhesive property, it is disposed and pressure welded without displacement on an inner bottom face of the sealing body.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a Li battery using Li metal as a negative electrode active material, and a method of manufacturing a Li battery.
The present invention relates to a transfer device suitable for transferring and arranging metal pieces.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Li batteries having Li metal as a negative electrode active material are widely used as power sources for driving, for example, watches and small calculators because of their high performance and compactness. In addition, this type of Li battery is usually manufactured by the following steps.

FIGS. 3 (a) to 3 (e) are cross-sectional views schematically showing an assembled state in a manufacturing process. First, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the inside of an outer can 1 which also serves as a positive electrode is opened at one end. To
The positive electrode element 2 is positioned and stored. Here, the positive electrode element 2 is formed of a mesh-shaped positive electrode current collector 2a and a plate-shaped positive electrode mixture 2b. At this stage, the positive electrode element 2 is filled and impregnated with an organic electrolytic solution (non-aqueous electrolytic solution). Next, as shown in FIG. Is arranged. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), a Li electrode assembly 6 is prepared by transferring and positioning a Li metal piece 5 on the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4 which also serves as a negative electrode, and by crimping arrangement. Here, as shown in perspective in FIG. 4, the Li metal piece 5 is made of a Li metal rod or a Li metal plate 7.
This Li metal piece 5 is pressed against the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4 to form a Li electrode assembly 6.

[0004] The transfer and positioning of the Li metal pieces 5 on the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4 are performed by a vacuum air jig 8. That is, the suction end face of the vacuum air jig 8 is brought into contact with the surface of the Li metal piece 5, held by the vacuum suction method, and transferred to the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4 for positioning and arrangement.

[0005] Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3 (d), a gasket 9 is interposed in the opening of the outer can 1, and the Li electrode structure 6,
That is, the sealing body 4 to which the Li metal piece 5 is crimped is positioned and arranged. Subsequently, the sealing body 4 is caulked to the opening of the outer can 1 while being electrically insulated from each other by the gasket 9, and a Li battery having a structure as shown in FIG. 3E is manufactured.

In the above description, the outer can 1 also functions as a positive electrode, and the sealing body 4 also functions as a negative electrode. However, the outer can 1 is replaced with a negative electrode and the sealing body 4 is replaced with a positive electrode. Sometimes adopted.

[0007]

However, the above Li
The following inconvenience is recognized in the battery manufacturing method. That is, the transfer and positioning of the Li metal piece 5 cut or punched from the Li metal rod or the Li metal plate 7, for example, to the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4 is performed by the vacuum air jig 8. I have. That is, Li metal piece 5
A procedure is adopted in which the suction end face of the vacuum air jig 8 is brought into contact with the surface, held by a vacuum suction method, and transferred to the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4 for positioning and arrangement.

Here, if the suction surface of the Li metal piece 5 is inferior in flatness or smoothness with respect to the suction end surface of the vacuum air jig 8, a so-called air leak occurs, and sufficient holding cannot be performed. Since it is not performed, required transfer and transport become difficult. Conversely, when the surface to be adsorbed of the Li metal piece 5 has good flatness or smoothness, the Li metal piece 5 adheres to the suction end face of the vacuum air jig 8 together with the good adhesion of the Li metal piece 5. In addition, the transfer and transportation are facilitated by the sufficient holding property.
However, the adhesion of the good Li metal piece 5 is disturbed, and it tends to be difficult to separate from the suction end face of the vacuum air jig 8.
The arrangement may not be performed with high accuracy.

In any case, the transfer and transport of the Li metal piece 5 by the conventional vacuum air jig 8 has an improved countermeasure in a state where there are problems in terms of productivity, yield, and the like. It can be said that it is waiting.

[0010] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and by employing means capable of reliably and easily transferring and transporting a Li metal piece, a highly reliable Li metal piece can be obtained.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a battery with a good yield, and an apparatus for transferring a Li metal piece suitable for manufacturing a Li battery.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, the tip of a metal needle of a transfer jig is pierced and held in a Li metal piece to be transferred and stored on the bottom surface of a sealing body also serving as a negative electrode terminal. ,this
In a method for manufacturing a Li battery, comprising a step of crimping a Li metal piece onto an inner bottom surface of a sealing body or an outer can also serving as a negative electrode, the Li metal piece is transferred, housed, arranged and removed from the inner body of the sealing body or the outer can. The metal needle of the transfer jig
A method for manufacturing a Li battery, characterized by interposing a non-aqueous and releasable liquid at an insertion portion of a Li metal piece.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cylindrical jig body,
A tubular metal needle mounted on one end side of the jig body so as to be able to advance and retreat in the axial direction, and a metal needle mounted on the other end side of the jig body to resiliently support the metal needle. A spring, and a non-water
An apparatus for transferring a Li metal piece, comprising a releasing liquid supply nozzle.

That is, the present invention relates to a method for producing Li
Smooth transfer, transport and positioning / positioning are performed by the strong adhesion of metal. On the other hand, the interposition of a non-aqueous release liquid selectively reduces the adhesion of Li metal, and from the support side.
The main point is that Li metal is easily separated.
Here, the outer can generally serves also as a positive electrode, and the sealing body 4 also serves as a negative electrode. On the contrary, the outer can serves as a negative electrode and the sealing body serves as a positive electrode. Sometimes it is taken.

In the present invention, the non-aqueous / releasable liquid is
It is chemically stable to Li metal and has an effect of giving mold releasability or releasability by reducing the adhesion of Li metal, and examples thereof include propylene carbonate.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing a Li battery, when the Li metal piece is transferred and stored on the inner bottom surface of a sealing member or the like also serving as a negative electrode, the metal needle tip of the transfer jig is used. By interposing a non-aqueous and releasable liquid at the piercing portion of the metal piece and the Li metal piece, it is easy to separate from the metal needle. Li batteries are provided with good yield.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the Li metal piece can be positioned and crimped with high precision on the inner bottom surface of the sealing member also serving as the negative electrode, a high-quality Li electrode assembly can be obtained with good yield and mass production. It can greatly contribute to mass production of Li batteries.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of a Li metal piece transfer apparatus according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a Li metal piece transfer apparatus.
It is a perspective view which shows typically the mode which transfers and conveys a Li metal piece. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a cylindrical jig main body, and reference numeral 11 denotes a metal needle mounted on one end side of the jig main body 10 so as to be able to advance and retreat in the axial direction. Here, the jig body 10 is formed in a cylindrical shape with an outer diameter stepped, and the inner diameter is also stepped corresponding to the outer diameter, and the metal needle 11 is fitted to the small diameter portion. In addition, it is mounted so that the liquid can flow along the outer peripheral surface of the metal needle 11.

A spring 12 is mounted on the other end side (larger inner diameter side) of the jig body 10 and resiliently presses and supports the top end surface of the metal needle 11. Reference numeral 13 denotes the jig body. This is a non-water / releasable liquid supply nozzle which is inserted into and out of the spring 12 on the side where the spring 12 is mounted. Here, the non-aqueous / releasable liquid supply nozzle 13 includes a non-aqueous / releasable liquid supply pipe 13a and a reduced-diameter nozzle 13b attached to the end of the pipe 13a.

The transfer and transport of the Li metal piece by the transfer device 14 is performed by holding and releasing the tip of the metal needle 11 into and out of the Li metal piece due to the advance and retreat of the metal needle 11, and at the time of removal. The flow is performed by the flow of the liquid along the outer peripheral surface of the metal needle 11 in the above. The flow of the liquid is caused by the supply pressure of the non-aqueous / releasable liquid, or the metal needle 11 by the compression force of the spring 12.
It is controlled by advancing and retreating.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the Li metal piece transfer device 14. First, a Li metal piece 5 cut or punched from a Li metal rod (or Li metal plate) 7
Then, the tip of the metal needle 11 is inserted and held. In this state, it is transferred, transported and positioned at a predetermined position, for example, on the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4 which also serves as a negative electrode for a button type battery.
In other words, when the Li metal piece 5 holding the tip of the metal needle 11 inserted and held is transferred and positioned on the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4,
A non-aqueous / release liquid supply nozzle 13 supplies a non-aqueous / release liquid (for example, propylene carbonate).

Here, the supplied non-aqueous / releasable liquid is
Li metal piece 5 with tip inserted along the outer surface of metal needle 11
, The adhesion of the Li metal piece 5 changes relatively and easily detaches from the metal needle 11 side. That is, since the adhesiveness of the Li metal piece 5 is reduced by the releasability of the non-aqueous / releasable liquid, the Li metal piece 5 is easily detached from the metal needle 11 while the sealing body 4
Since the surface of the Li metal piece 5 which is in contact with the inner bottom surface of the sealing member 4 still retains good adhesiveness, the Li metal piece 5 is arranged and crimped on the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4 without causing any displacement.

Next, the Li metal piece transfer device was used.
An example of a method for manufacturing a Li battery will be described.

Since the basic manufacturing process is the same as the conventional one,
This will be described with reference to FIGS. First, FIG.
As shown in (a), an outer can 1 having an open end, which also serves as a positive electrode.
The positive electrode element 2 is positioned and housed therein. Here, the positive electrode element 2 is formed of a mesh-shaped positive electrode current collector 2a and a plate-shaped positive electrode mixture 2b. At this stage,
The positive electrode element 2 is filled and impregnated with an organic electrolytic solution (non-aqueous electrolytic solution). Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, a separator 3 is disposed on the positive electrode element 2 housed and arranged. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), a Li electrode assembly 6 is prepared by transferring and positioning a Li metal piece 5 on the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4 which also serves as a negative electrode, and by crimping arrangement. Here, the Li metal piece 5 is a block cut from the Li metal rod 7 as shown in FIG. 2 in an oblique view, and the Li metal piece 5 is transferred to the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4. Place, transport, and position. That is, the tip of the metal needle 11 is inserted and held in the Li metal piece 5, transferred and conveyed to the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4, and positioned and arranged. Propylene carbonate is supplied from the liquid supply nozzle 13. Here, the supplied propylene carbonate is Li along the outer peripheral surface of the metal needle 11.
The flow of the metal piece 5 wets the tip area of the inserted metal needle 11, lowers the adhesion of the wet area of the Li metal piece 5, and makes the metal needle 11 releasable or detachable. That is, while the metal needle 11 is easily detached, the surface of the Li metal piece 5 that is in contact with the inner bottom surface of the sealing body 4 has good adhesion,
It is arranged and crimped on the inner bottom surface of the sealing member 4 without causing any displacement.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3 (d), a gasket 9 is interposed in the opening of the outer can 1, and the Li electrode structure 6,
That is, the sealing body 4 to which the Li metal piece 5 is crimped is positioned and arranged. Subsequently, the sealing body 4 is caulked to the opening of the outer can 1 while being electrically insulated from each other by the gasket 9, and a Li battery having a structure as shown in FIG. 3E is manufactured.

In the above method for manufacturing a Li battery, cutting and
The separated Li metal pieces can be accurately positioned and crimped to, for example, the bottom surface of the sealed body without causing any displacement or the like. Here, the ability to easily provide a high-precision Li electrode structure means that a battery reaction area can be sufficiently and stably secured with respect to, for example, a corresponding electrode component housed and arranged in an outer can, so that it is reliable. This will greatly contribute to the mass production of high-performance Li batteries and to an improvement in yield.

In the above-described method for manufacturing a Li battery, a Li metal piece 5 is pressed against the outer can 1 side, and a separator 3 is provided on the upper surface thereof, while a positive electrode element 2 is mounted on the inner bottom surface by a sealing body 4. The same result can be obtained by employing a configuration in which the opening of the outer can is sealed.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above example, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the cross-sectional shape and dimensions of the Li metal rod can be appropriately selected depending on the type and size of the Li battery.

[0029]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the Li metal piece is transferred and stored on the inner bottom surface of the sealing member or the like, the tip of the metal needle of the transfer jig is inserted (pierced). After the held Li metal piece is positioned, the metal needle and the Li metal piece can be easily separated from each other and the Li metal piece can be prevented from being misaligned, so that a high-quality Li battery can be provided with good yield. it can.
According to the invention of claim 2, since the Li metal piece can be transferred and conveyed to the bottom surface of the sealing body and positioned and crimped with high precision, a high quality Li electrode assembly can be produced with good yield and mass production. Can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a main configuration of a Li metal piece transfer device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a use mode of the Li metal piece transfer device shown in FIG.

3 (a) to 3 (e) are cross-sectional views schematically showing steps of manufacturing a Li battery in the order of steps.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing a usage state of a conventional Li metal piece transfer device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Outer can (positive electrode terminal) 2 ... Positive electrode element part 2a ... Positive electrode collector 2b ... Positive electrode material 3 ... Separator 4 ... Sealing body (negative electrode terminal) 5 ... Li metal piece (negative electrode) 6 Li electrode assembly 7 Li rod (Li plate) 8 Vacuum air jig 9 Gasket 10 Jig body 11 Metal needle 12 Spring 13 Non-water / separation Mold liquid supply nozzle 14 Li metal piece transfer device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A metal jig end of a transfer jig is pierced and held in a Li metal piece, and is transferred and stored on a sealing body or an inner bottom of an outer can which also serves as a negative electrode terminal. In a method for manufacturing a Li battery having a step of crimping to the inner bottom surface of a container, when the Li metal piece is transferred / stored and disposed on the inner bottom surface of a sealing body or an outer can and detached, a metal needle tip of a transfer jig is used. And a method for producing a Li battery, wherein a non-aqueous and releasable liquid is interposed in a piercing portion of a Li metal piece. 2. A cylindrical jig main body, a tubular metal needle mounted on one end side of the jig main body so as to be able to advance and retreat in an axial direction, and at a second end side of the jig main body. A spring that is mounted and resiliently supports the metal needle; and a non-water / releasable liquid supply nozzle that is mounted so that it can be inserted into and out of the other end of the jig body. Li metal piece transfer device characterized by the above-mentioned.