Patent Description:
In recent years, as mobile devices such as portable game consoles, portable phones (smart phones, etc.), and portable computers (laptop computers, tablet PCs, etc.) are widely distributed and used, demands for secondary batteries that are chargeable and dischargeable as power sources for mobile devices are rapidly increasing.

In addition, in order to be commercially applicable to electric vehicles (EVs), energy storage systems (ESSs), etc., research and development for improving performance and manufacturability of secondary batteries are being actively conducted.

In general, a secondary battery includes a cathode material, an anode material, an electrolyte, and a separator.

Among them, the cathode material is an important factor for determining performance (capacity, output, etc.) of the secondary battery.

Representative examples of the cathode material of the secondary battery include LiCoO<NUM> (LCO), LiNiCoMnO<NUM> (NCM), LiNiCoAlO<NUM> (NCA), LiFePO<NUM> (LFP), and the like.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the cathode materials have to be subjected to each of washing, dehydration, drying, coating, heat treatment, and cooling processes to prevent quality of the cathode material from being deteriorated and improve intrinsic characteristics of the cathode material.

In addition, in the process of manufacturing the cathode material, a conventional cathode material drying device used in the drying process is disclosed in detail in <CIT>.

The conventional cathode material drying device is constituted by a drying furnace, a stirring device that stirs raw metal powder in the drying furnace, a heating/cooling chamber that is disposed around drying furnace to heat or cool the drying furnace while being isolated from the drying furnace, a steam device that supplies steam or cold air to the heating/cooling chamber, and a bag filter provided at the other side of a cooling device drying furnace to drop down the raw metal powder again into the drying furnace while discharging air and moisture, and thus, the cathode material is dried by heating the drying furnace through the steam supplied from the steam device to a pipe.

However, in the conventional cathode material drying device, since the steam or heat transfer oil is heated and transferred to the drying furnace through the pipe, a heat loss is high, and a temperature control is not easy.

In addition, since the conventional cathode material drying device only dries the cathode material and does not perform the coating and heat treatment processes. As a result, a separate coating and heat treatment device are required to complete the cathode material.

That is, in the conventional cathode material drying device, when adding a heat treatment function, it is not easy to heat the steam or heat transfer oil to a high-temperature heat capable of the heat treatment, and a severe partial temperature deviation occurs in the drying furnace, and thus, it is inappropriate to add the heat treatment function.

In addition, in the conventional cathode material drying device, since the cathode material has to be transferred to the coating and heat treatment devices after drying the cathode material, it takes a lot of time during the transfer process, and impurities may be mixed in the cathode material.

In addition, since the conventional cathode material drying device has a complicated structure due to the installation of pipes and a boiler, the structure is complex, and there are many difficulties in maintenance. The heat transfer oil used in the conventional cathode material drying device has a risk of explosion due to oil vapor and acts as a factor that causes environmental pollution.

A cathode material integrated processing device comprising the features of the preamble portion of claim <NUM> is known from <CIT>.

Several heat absorbing coatings are known from <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, and <CIT>.

Considering the above limitations, in the manufacturing of the cathode material according to the related art, it is difficult to improve work efficiency and quality and increase in productivity and safety.

The invention is intended to provide a cathode material integrated processing device, which is capable of providing high-temperature heat, has no temperature deviation and heat loss, and is capable of easily controlling a temperature to not only dry a cathode material and but also perform coating and heat treatment, thereby improving work efficiency, quality, and productivity according to manufacturing of the cathode material.

The invention is also intended to provide a cathode material integrated processing device in which an explosive element is removed in advance to improve safety. The invention is also intended to provide an eco-friendly cathode material integrated processing device which is capable of drying and heat-treating a cathode material without using heat transfer oil that causes environmental pollution.

This technical problem is solved by a cathode material integrated processing device comprising the features of claim <NUM>.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the cathode material integrated processing device according to the invention will be described in more detail based on the accompanying drawings.

Here, components having the same function in all the drawings below use the same reference numerals, and repetitive descriptions are omitted. Furthermore, the terms to be described later are defined in consideration of the functions in the invention, which are unique and commonly used. should be interpreted in meaning. In addition, in the following description of the invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of the related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject substance of the invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. Furthermore, when it is described that one includes some elements, it should be understood that it may include only those elements, or it may include other elements as well as those elements if there is no specific limitation.

<FIG> is a view illustrating a process of manufacturing a cathode martial according to a related art.

<FIG> is a front view illustrating of a cathode material integrated processing device according to an embodiment of the invention, <FIG> is a side view illustrating the cathode material integrated processing device according to an embodiment of the invention, <FIG> is a side cross-sectional view illustrating the cathode material integrated processing device according to an embodiment of the invention, and <FIG> is a side view illustrating a housing and a refractory block of the cathode material integrated processing device according to an embodiment of the invention.

As illustrated in the drawings, a cathode material integrated processing apparatus <NUM> according to an embodiment of the invention includes a support frame <NUM>, a chamber part <NUM>, a heating part <NUM>, a spray part <NUM>, a stirring part <NUM>, the driving part <NUM>, and the control part <NUM>.

The support frame <NUM> is provided to be disposed below the chamber part <NUM>.

The chamber part <NUM> includes a cylindrical body <NUM> for accommodating a cathode material in an upper portion of the support frame <NUM> and a thick plate <NUM> coupled to each of both ends of the cylindrical body <NUM> to seal both the ends of the cylindrical body <NUM> and configured to fix the cylindrical body <NUM> to an upper portion of the support frame <NUM>.

The heating part <NUM> is configured to heat the chamber part <NUM> outside the cylindrical body <NUM> and the thick plate <NUM> of the chamber part <NUM>.

The heating part <NUM> is provided as an electric heating wire that is heated by electricity.

The heating part <NUM> is divided into blocks on the outside of the cylindrical body <NUM> and the outside of the thick plate <NUM> so that the control part <NUM> controls the heating part <NUM> that is divided for the block.

The heating part is provided to be spaced apart from the outside of the cylindrical body.

The spray part <NUM> includes one or more nozzles <NUM> disposed between the upper portion and one side of the cylindrical body <NUM> of the chamber part <NUM> and inserted in a longitudinal direction of the cylindrical body <NUM> to spray a coating liquid to the cathode material within the chamber part <NUM> through a gas.

Although the spray part <NUM> is not shown in the drawings, the nozzle <NUM> is connected to a coating liquid supply part for supplying a coating liquid and a gas supply part for supplying a gas.

The stirring part <NUM> is disposed inside the cylindrical body <NUM> of the chamber part <NUM> to rotate and stir the cathode material inside the chamber part <NUM>.

The stirring part <NUM> includes a stirring rotation shaft inserted into the cylindrical body <NUM> and having one end and the other end, which are rotatably supported inside the thick plate <NUM>, one or more connection rods having one end fixed to a circumference of the stirring rotation shaft to protruding radially, and a blade fixed to the other end of the connection rod to stir the cathode material.

The driving part <NUM> is connected to one side of the stirring part <NUM> and rotatably disposed at one side of the upper portion of the support frame <NUM> to rotate the stirring part <NUM>.

The driving part <NUM> may include a motor fixed to the upper portion of the support frame <NUM>, a reducer connected to the motor, a sprocket connected to the reducer, a sprocket fixed to one end of the stirring rotation shaft, and a chain connecting the sprocket.

The control part <NUM> is disposed on the support frame <NUM> to control the heating part <NUM>, the spray part <NUM>, and the driving part <NUM>.

Although the control part <NUM> is installed on the support frame <NUM> as an embodiment, the control part <NUM> may be installed anywhere as long as the control part <NUM> controls the heating part <NUM>, the spray part <NUM>, and the driving part <NUM>.

In addition, in the chamber part <NUM>, an input part <NUM> for inputting the cathode material into the chamber part <NUM> is disposed on an upper portion of one side of the cylindrical body <NUM>.

Although not shown in the drawings, the input part <NUM> is connected to a cathode material supply part that supplies the cleaned cathode material to the chamber part <NUM>.

An exhaust part <NUM> for discharging moisture within the chamber part <NUM> to the outside is disposed on an upper portion of the other side of the cylindrical body <NUM>.

Although not shown in the drawings, the exhaust part <NUM> is connected to a filter and a moisture emitter.

A discharge part <NUM> for discharging the cathode material to the outside of the chamber part <NUM> is disposed on a lower portion of the cylindrical body <NUM>.

A manhole part <NUM> that is accessible for maintenance and cleaning is disposed at one side of the cylindrical body <NUM> inside the chamber part <NUM>.

In addition, the chamber part includes a housing <NUM>, which is provided to surround the outside of the cylindrical body <NUM> to cover the cylindrical body <NUM>, and a refractory block <NUM>, which is disposed to be spaced apart from the outside of the cylindrical body <NUM> inside the housing <NUM> to prevent heat inside the chamber part <NUM> from being dissipated.

An accommodation part <NUM> that is partitioned into a plurality of spaces to accommodate and support the refractory block <NUM> is disposed inside the housing <NUM>.

An accommodation groove <NUM> recessed inward to accommodate the heating part <NUM> is defined inside the refractory block <NUM>.

An endothermic coating part <NUM> that is applied on an outer surface of the cylindrical body <NUM> and an outer surface of the thick plate <NUM> to improve heat absorption and thermal conductivity of the chamber part <NUM> is disposed in the chamber part <NUM>.

An uneven part <NUM> for enlarging a surface area of the endothermic coating part <NUM> is disposed on a surface of the endothermic coating part <NUM>.

The endothermic coating part <NUM> may have a rough surface to enlarge the surface area. Thus, the roughness of the surface may be in the range of about <NUM> to about <NUM> based on arithmetic average roughness (Ra).

In addition, the heating part <NUM> is disposed to be spaced apart from the outside of the cylindrical body <NUM> of the chamber part <NUM>, and the spaced distance may be about <NUM> or less.

An operation of the cathode material integrated processing device according to an embodiment of the invention, which is configured as described above, will be described.

As illustrated in <FIG>, when the cathode material within the chamber part <NUM> is stirred using the stirring part <NUM> while the cleaned cathode material is put into the chamber part <NUM> through an input part <NUM> and is heated so that the chamber <NUM> has an internal temperature of about <NUM> to about <NUM> through the heating part <NUM>, the cathode material is dried.

In addition, when the drying of the cathode material is completed, while the stirring part <NUM> stirs the cathode material, the spray part <NUM> sprays the coating liquid to the cathode material through the nozzle <NUM>, and heat treatment is performed to apply the cathode material.

The heat treatment is performed while the chamber part <NUM> is heated at a high-temperature heat so that the chamber has an internal temperature of about <NUM> to about <NUM>.

Thereafter, when the applying of the cathode material is completed, the cathode material is cooled and then discharged through the discharge part <NUM> to the outside, thereby completing the manufacturing of the cathode material.

That is, as the heating part <NUM> is provided as the electric heating wire <NUM> to directly heat the chamber part <NUM>, there is no temperature deviation and heat loss inside the chamber part <NUM>, and high-temperature heat at which the heat treatment is capable of being performed may be provided inside the chamber part <NUM>.

Although the spray part <NUM> is not shown in the drawings, the nozzle <NUM> may be connected to each of a coating liquid supply part and a gas supply part, and thus, the nozzle <NUM> may spray the coating liquid to the cathode material inside the chamber part <NUM> through a gas so that the cathode material is coated with the coating liquid.

The stirring part <NUM> stirs and homogenizes the cathode material inside the chamber part <NUM> through the driving part <NUM> to efficiently perform drying, coating, and heat treatment processes of the cathode material through the stirring part <NUM>.

In addition, as illustrated in <FIG>, the heating part <NUM> may be disposed to be spaced apart from the outside of the cylindrical body <NUM> of the chamber part <NUM> to prevent the heating part <NUM> from being damaged due to thermal expansion of the chamber part <NUM>.

The spaced distance of the heating part <NUM> may be within a range in which a heat transfer rate of the heating part <NUM> is not greatly reduced and within a level considering the thermal expansion of the chamber part <NUM>. Since the heat transfer by convection current is reduced, a maximum temperature inside the chamber part may be lowered.

Therefore, the spaced distance may be about <NUM> or less.

In addition, the housing <NUM> protects the chamber part <NUM> from an external impact, and the refractory block <NUM> serves to prevent heat of the chamber part <NUM> from being dissipated during the drying or heat treatment of the cathode material.

The accommodation part <NUM> provided inside the housing <NUM> divides and accommodates the refractory blocks <NUM>. Thus, since the refractory blocks <NUM> are separated from each other, it is easy to replace or repair the electric heating wire, and the refractory blocks <NUM> may be partially replaced.

In addition, the endothermic coating part <NUM> improves the heat absorption and thermal conductivity of the chamber part <NUM>. Thus, when the cathode material is dried or heat-treated, heat from the heating part <NUM> may be quickly transferred to the chamber part <NUM> to reduce a time taken to dry or heat-treat the cathode material.

The endothermic coating part <NUM> may be made of an endothermic raw material including ceramic (aluminum oxide (Al<NUM>O<NUM>), silicon oxide (SiO<NUM>), zirconium oxide (ZrO<NUM>), etc.) and a black pigment to improve the heat absorption. The black pigment may be not only black but also a similar black pigment having excellent heat absorption compared to other colors. Particularly, in an embodiment of the invention, it may be made by applying a ceramic coating liquid containing Al<NUM>O<NUM> and SiO<NUM> as ceramic raw materials and further containing the black pigment. An example of the endothermic coating part <NUM> provided by applying the ceramic coating liquid is illustrated in <FIG>.

The endothermic coating part <NUM> made by applying the ceramic coating liquid as described above may rise the maximum temperature inside the chamber part <NUM> and reduce the reaching time.

Table <NUM> below shows results of measuring a temperature of the outer surface of the chamber part and the inner surface of the chamber part according to a heater temperature according to the presence or absence of the endothermic coating part.

As can be seen from Table <NUM>, it is seen that the maximum temperature inside the chamber at the same heater temperature in the presence of the endothermic coating part is higher than that of the case in the absence of the endothermic coating part, and the time taken to reach the maximum temperature is also short.

Therefore, the temperature inside the chamber may be raised to a desired temperature even at a low heater output, and thus, energy efficiency may be improved in the process of applying and heat-treating the cathode material.

The uneven portion <NUM> on the surface of the endothermic coating part <NUM> enlarges the surface area of the endothermic coating part <NUM>, and thus, the enlarged surface area of the endothermic coating part <NUM> absorbs heat from the heating part <NUM> with high efficiency to quickly rise the temperature of the chamber part <NUM>, thereby minimizing a heat loss of the heating part <NUM>.

In addition, even if the surface of the endothermic coating part <NUM> does not have the uneven part <NUM>, the surface area may be widened through the rough surface, and thus, the heat absorption performance may be improved. The surface roughness for improving the heat absorption performance may be in the range of about <NUM> to about <NUM> as an arithmetic mean roughness (Ra) value. If the roughness is too low, it is not possible to increase in surface area, which is insufficient to improve the heat absorption performance, and if the roughness is too high, it is not preferable because there is a limitation in that a process time for forming the high roughness increases, or it is difficult to apply the endothermic coating liquid. Therefore, the appropriate surface roughness is in the range of about <NUM> to about <NUM>, more preferably in the range of about <NUM> to about <NUM> in terms of arithmetic mean roughness (Ra) value.

In addition, as the heating part <NUM> is divided for the blocks in the chamber part <NUM>, and each block is controlled by the control part <NUM>, the temperature inside the chamber part may be uniform as a whole.

That is, referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, it is seen that a plurality of heating parts <NUM> are divided for the blocks outside the cylindrical body <NUM> of the chamber and outside the thick plate <NUM>.

The reason why the heating part <NUM> is divided for the blocks and controlled by the control part <NUM> is for preventing a temperature deviation that varies for each space inside the chamber part <NUM> when drying or heat-treating the cathode material. If there is the temperature deviation inside the chamber part <NUM>, the cathode material may be defective when the cathode material is manufactured.

For example, as illustrated in <FIG>, when a convection phenomenon in which heat moves toward an upper space (a) occurs inside the chamber part <NUM> during drying or heat treatment of the cathode material, different temperature deviations occur in the upper space (a), a middle space (b), and a lower space (c) inside the chamber part <NUM>.

Therefore, if the heating part <NUM> disposed in each of the upper space (a), the middle space (b), and the lower space (c) is controlled through the control part <NUM> to have the same temperature, the inside of the chamber part <NUM> may have the uniform temperature uniform as a whole.

Therefore, when drying or heat-treating the cathode material, it is possible to prevent the temperature deviation inside the chamber part <NUM>, thereby reducing defects of the cathode material caused by the temperature deviation and completing the high-quality cathode material.

Due to the above-described configuration, the cathode material integrated processing device according to the invention may perform the drying, coating, and heat treatment processes through one device to improve the work efficiency, the quality, and the productivity according to the manufacturing of the cathode material.

That is, as the heating part is provided as the electric heating wire to provide the high-temperature heat to the inside of the chamber part, the present invention may effectively perform not only the drying process of the cathode material, but also the heat treatment process of the cathode material, and as the spray part sprays the coating liquid onto the cathode material inside the chamber part through the gas, the present invention may effectively perform the coating process of the cathode material, and the present invention may homogenize the cathode material during the drying, the coating, and the heat treatment of the cathode material through the stirring part.

In addition, since the conventional heat transfer oil is replaced with the electric heating wire in the heating part, the explosion accident due to the oil vapor may be prevented in advance, and the environmental pollution may not occur.

In addition, as the endothermic coating part is applied on each of the outer surface of the cylindrical body and the outer surface of the thick plate of the chamber to more improve the heat absorption and thermal conductivity of the chamber part, when drying or heat treating the cathode material, the chamber part may be quickly heated, and the heat loss may be maximally reduced.

In addition, as the heating part is divided into blocks on the outside of the cylindrical body and the outside of the thick plate so that the controller controls each block, the temperature deviation inside the chamber may be prevented from occurring, and the temperature inside the chamber may be uniform as a whole.

In addition, since the structure is simple, the installation and disassembly may be easy, and the time and cost associated with the maintenance may be saved.

Claim 1:
A cathode material integrated processing device, configured to dry, apply, and heat-treat a cathode material, the cathode material integrated processing device comprising:
a support frame (<NUM>);
a chamber part (<NUM>) comprising a cylindrical body (<NUM>) configured to accommodate the cathode material and a thick plate coupled to each of both ends of the cylindrical body (<NUM>) to seal both the ends of the cylindrical body (<NUM>) and configured to fix the cylindrical body (<NUM>) to an upper portion of the support frame (<NUM>);
a heating part (<NUM>) disposed in each of the outside of the cylindrical body (<NUM>) and the outside of the thick plate of the chamber part (<NUM>) to heat the chamber part (<NUM>);
a spray part (<NUM>) comprising one or more nozzles (<NUM>), which is disposed between an upper portion and one side of the cylindrical body (<NUM>) of the chamber part (<NUM>) and is inserted in the cylindrical body (<NUM>) to spray a coating liquid to the cathode material within the chamber part (<NUM>) through a gas;
a stirring part (<NUM>) rotatably disposed inside the cylindrical body (<NUM>) of the chamber part (<NUM>) to stir the cathode material within the chamber part (<NUM>);
a driving part (<NUM>) connected to one side of the stirring part (<NUM>) and rotatably disposed at one side of an upper portion of the support frame (<NUM>) to rotate the stirring part (<NUM>); and
a control part (<NUM>) configured to control the heating part (<NUM>), the spray part (<NUM>), and the driving part (<NUM>),
characterized in that
the chamber part (<NUM>) comprises an endothermic coating part (<NUM>) that is applied to an outer surface of the cylindrical body (<NUM>) to improve heat absorption of the chamber part (<NUM>), said endothermic coating part (<NUM>) comprising an uneven part (<NUM>) configured to expand a surface area of the endothermic coating part (<NUM>) on a surface thereof.