Patent CN215451488U - 3-Axis Electrolyte Filling & Sealing

Sealing is one of the last operations a lithium battery goes through, and in the prior art it was performed the slow way: an operator fed each cell into a press by hand and a stamping action closed it. The specification of CN215451488U calls the sealing step an important link in lithium battery production and identifies the manual feeding-and-stamping route as the bottleneck - sealing efficiency was low.

The patent answers with a machine that does the positioning itself. A sensor detects the cell on a working plate, and three electric motors drive three lead screws to move an injection pipe over the cell and fill and seal it. The whole handling cycle - position, inject, seal - no longer depends on an operator's hands.

Patent Information

The Production Problem This Patent Solves

Manual sealing is slow and labour-bound. In the existing process the battery is fed by hand and sealed by a stamping action. Each cell needs to be aligned with the sealing station individually, and the operator is part of every cycle. For a step positioned at the very end of a lithium battery line, that manual rhythm sets the ceiling for the whole line's output.

Filling and sealing call for accuracy in three dimensions. To inject and seal a cell the injection pipe must arrive above the cell opening from the right direction, at the right height. A rigid single-station tool cannot be adjusted quickly when the cell type or the station layout changes.

The utility model addresses both points: it senses where the cell is, then drives the injection pipe along three orthogonal axes so the filling and sealing head can be positioned without any manual alignment.

How the Mechanism Works

The machine builds three linear axes out of three electric motors and three lead screws, stacked on successive cross beams above a working plate. Figures 1-4 show the overall machine in two perspective views and two cross-section views; Figures 5-7 give the enlarged details called out at A, B and C.

Three stacked motor-and-lead-screw axes

A frame carries a first connecting plate on each side at its upper end, and a first cross beam spans the two plates. The first motor at the rear of the first cross beam turns the first lead screw, and the meshing first connecting block rides on it, carrying the second cross beam in the front-rear direction. The second motor at the right end of the second cross beam turns the second lead screw and moves the third cross beam in the left-right direction. The third motor on top of the third cross beam turns the third lead screw, and its connecting block moves the connecting frame in the up-down direction. All three motors are electrically connected to an external power supply and an external controller.

Filling head with position sensor

The connecting frame carries the injection pipe at its front end. The pipe has an injection port at its upper end (where the sealing-liquid tube connects) and a limiting ring on its outer end, seated at the lower-left of the connecting frame. A position sensor is mounted behind the limiting ring. When a battery is placed in the clamping hole of the working plate, the sensor recognises the cell and sends a signal to the controller - that signal starts the positioning sequence.

Work plate with electric-cylinder lift

A support frame stands below the injection pipe, and the working plate sits on top of it. An electric cylinder on the support frame drives a telescopic rod whose upper end is attached to the underside of the working plate, so the plate can be raised and lowered for loading and unloading. A connecting pipe on the underside of the plate houses a spring rod whose lower end rests on the support frame; the spring rod is in interference fit with the connecting pipe, so the plate moves up and down smoothly instead of tilting.

Guided carriage and frame stiffening

The connecting frame also carries a slide block at the rear-left that runs on a slide rail mounted on the third cross beam, keeping the up-down carriage stable. Below, the frame is bolted to the first connecting plates and stiffened by a triangular plate in each corner angle.

Working sequence as published: the operator connects the injection port to the sealing-liquid tube and powers the machine; a battery is placed in the clamping hole; the position sensor identifies the cell and signals the controller; the controller runs the first motor (front-rear), the second motor (left-right) and the third motor (up-down) in turn so the connecting frame positions the injection pipe and fills and seals the cell; when the plate must be loaded, unloaded, or the pipe must inject vertically, the controller starts the electric cylinder and the telescopic rod moves the working plate.

Claimed Benefits

How It Compares with Manual Feed-and-Stamp Sealing

In the existing process the battery was fed by hand and sealed by a stamping action, with the operator part of every cycle. This patent replaces that rhythm with motor-driven positioning and actuation.

Where This Technology Is Used Today

CN215451488U covers the positioning-and-filling architecture used in TOB's battery sealing and electrolyte filling equipment: sense the cell, move the head in three axes, fill and seal. That is exactly the sequence a production sealing station must repeat reliably on every cell.

• Prismatic cell electrolyte filling machines
• Pouch cell assembly lines

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Frequently Asked Questions

Full specification and drawings: CN215451488U on Google Patents