Patent Description:
More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for aligning labels attached to a battery using a sensor.

Recently, rechargeable secondary batteries have been widely used as energy sources for wireless mobile apparatuses. In addition , the secondary batteries are in the spotlight as energy sources for electrical vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, etc., which are proposed as alternatives for solving air pollution or the like of existing gas vehicles, diesel vehicles, etc., which use fossil fuels. Thus, the kinds of applications using the secondary battery are much diversified due to the merits of the secondary battery, and in future, the secondary battery will be expected to be applied to more fields and products than now.

Such secondary batteries may also be classified, according to the configurations of electrodes and electrolytes, into lithium ion batteries, lithium ion polymer batteries, lithium polymer batteries, or the like, and among these, use of the lithium ion polymer batteries which have low possibility of leaking electrolytes and are easily manufactured is being increased.

In general, the secondary batteries are classified, according to the shapes of cell cases, into cylindrical and prismatic batteries in each of which an electrode assembly is embedded in a cylindrical or prismatic metal can and a pouch-type cells in each of which an electrode assembly is embedded in a pouch-type case formed of an aluminum laminate sheet.

It can be said that the best merit of a mobile device such as a laptop PC is convenient portability, and the secondary battery serves the largest role for enabling the portability.

The secondary batteries have been used as energy sources for various electronic products as well as various mobile apparatuses, but various combustible materials are embedded in the secondary batteries. Therefore, there is a danger of heating, explosion, or the like due to overcharge, over-current, other physical external shocks, or the like, and to solve this, positive temperature coefficient (PTC) elements, protection circuit modules (PCMs), or the like are mounted in a state of being connected to a battery cell as safety elements which can effectively control abnormal states such as overcharge and over-current,.

A battery pack equipped with the components such as the safety elements and PCM modules on a battery case is manufactured through a plurality of complicated processes for accommodating an electrode assembly in a battery case, injecting and sealing an electrolyte, and a label indicating the specifications of the battery pack is attached to the outer portion of the case. A method of attaching a label to a battery is disclosed in <CIT>. An apparatus and method for attaching a label to an object with a label support, an alignment check part and a label aligning part, wherein the alignment check part comprises an alignment determining part with four sensors, is known from <CIT>.

Conventionally, when a label sheet was manually attached to the exterior case of a secondary battery, or a label attaching device was used for attaching a label sheet, the alignment state was checked by using a block, and when the alignment of the label was defective, the label was re-aligned by pushing the label with a physical block.

As such, when the label was re-aligned by being pushed with the physical block, there was a problem in that in case of a peeling label, the label was not re-aligned, but pushed to be wrinkled or overlapped.

The present invention provides an apparatus and a method for realigning a label without applying a physical force directly on the label to be attached to a battery case.

In accordance with the present invention, an apparatus for attaching a label to a battery according to claim <NUM> includes: a label support on which the label is placed; an alignment check part configured to check whether an alignment state of the label is normal or defective; and a label aligning part configured to align the label when the alignmaent state determined by the alignment check part is defective.

The alignment check part includes a servo robot configured to move the label support, on which the label is placed, to a corresponding position of the battery, the label being attachabel to the battery at the corresponding position of the battery; two sensors configured to detectthe alignment state of the label; and an alignment determining part configured to determine, according to a combination of signals detected by the two sensors, whether the alignment state is normal or defective.

The two sensors include: a first sensor disposed to be spaced apart by a preset distance to the left with respect to the servo robot; and a second sensor disposed to be spaced apart a preset distance to the right with respect to the servo robot, wherein the first sensor and the second sensor may be disposed side by side on a straight line perpendicular to a moving direction of the servo robot.

The servo robot may move the label support and position the label at an alignment determination position, and when the label is at the alignment determination position, the alignment determination part may determine the alignment state is defective when only the first sensor or the second sensor detects the label and that the alignment state is normal when both of the first and second sensors detect the label.

The label alignment part may include: a rotation part configured to rotate the label support clockwise or counterclockwise; and a rotation control part configured to control a rotation direction and a rotation angle of the rotation part.

When the alignment determination part determines that the alignment state is normal, the rotation control part may transmit a current state holding signal, and when the alignment determination part determines that the alignment state is defective, the rotation control part may transmit a signal for rotating the rotation part counterclockwise by a predetermined angle when only the first sensor detects the label, and may transmit a signal for rotating the rotation part clockwise by a predetermined angle when only the second sensor detects the label.

In accordance with the present invention, a method for attaching a label to a battery according to claim <NUM> includes: a label separating operation for separating a protective paper and a label and placing the label on a label support; and a label alignment state check operation for checking an alignment state of the label separated in the label separating operation, wherein when a normal alignment state is determined in the label alignment state check operation, a label attaching operation for attaching the label to the battery may be performed, and when a defective alignment state is determined in the label alignment state check operation, a label aligning operation for aligning the label may be performed and then the label attaching operation may be performed.

In the label alignment state check operation, the alignment state is checked by using a first sensor disposed to be spaced a preset distance to the left with respect to a servo robot configured to move a label support, and a second sensor disposed to be spaced apart a preset distance to the right with respect to the servo robot configured to move the label support, and when the label is detected by only the first sensor or the second sensor, the alignment state may be determined to be defective, and when the label is detected by both the first and second sensors, the alignment state may be determined to be normal.

In the label alignment operation, when the alignment state is determined to be normal in the label alignment state check operation, a current state may be maintained, and when the alignment state is determined to be defective in the label alignment state check operation, and the label is detected only by the first sensor, a rotation part configured to rotate the label support may be rotated counterclockwise by a predetermined angle to align the label, and when the alignment state is determined to be defective in the label alignment state check operation, and the label is detected only by the second sensor, the rotation part may be rotated clockwise by a predetermined angle to align the label.

According to the present invention, a label is realigned without applying a physical force to the label, whereby a phenomenon in which wrinkles occur in the label or the label is pushed can be prevented.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that the present disclosure may easily be carried out by a person with ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In the drawings, anything unnecessary for describing the present disclosure will be omitted for clarity, and like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.

In this disclosure below, when one part (or element, device, etc.) is referred to as being 'connected' to another part (or element, device, etc.), it should be understood that the former can be 'directly connected' to the latter, or `electrically connected to the latter via an intervening part (or element, device, etc.). Furthermore, when it is described that one part "includes" some components, it does not mean that other components are excluded but means that other elements may be further included if there is no specific contrary indication. The terms "step of (performing)" or "step of (doing)" used in the entire specification of the present disclosure does not mean "step for".

Terms used in the present invention is selected as general terms as widely used as possible while considering functions in the present invention, but these may be changed according to intent of a person skilled in the art, a precedent, an advent of new technique, or the like. In addition, in a specific case, there are terms arbitrarily selected by applicants, and in this case, the meaning of the terms will be described in detail in the corresponding description part of the present invention. Accordingly, the terms used in the present invention should be defined on the basis of the meanings the terms have and the contents of the entirety of the present invention rather than defined by simple names of the terms.

<FIG> are configuration diagrams of a battery label attachment apparatus in accordance with the present invention.

Hereinafter with reference to <FIG>, a battery label attachment apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In accordance with the present invention, a battery label attachment apparatus includes: a label support (not shown) on which a label <NUM> is placed; alignment check parts <NUM> and <NUM> configured to check whether the alignment of the label is normal; and a label aligning part configured to align the label when an abnormality is checked from the alignment check parts <NUM> and <NUM>.

Specifically, the alignment check parts <NUM> and <NUM> include: a servo robot <NUM> configured to move the label support, on which the label <NUM> is placed, to a corresponding position of the battery, the label being attached to the position; two sensors <NUM> and <NUM> configured to sense the position of the label <NUM>; and an alignment determining part (not shown) configured to determine, according to a combination of signals detected by the two sensors, whether alignment is normal or defective.

Meanwhile, the servo robot <NUM> is located at the center of the label <NUM> and may move the label support in a direction perpendicular to the total length of the label.

Meanwhile, the two sensors <NUM> and <NUM> for detecting the position of the label <NUM> include: a first sensor <NUM> disposed to be spaced apart a preset distance to the left with respect to the servo robot <NUM>; and a second sensor <NUM> disposed to be spaced apart a preset distance to the right with respect to the servo robot <NUM>.

At this point, the first sensor <NUM> and the second sensor <NUM> are disposed side by side on a straight line perpendicular to the moving direction of the servo robot <NUM>.

Such disposition may vary according to the shape, size, and characteristic of the label <NUM>.

Meanwhile, the first sensor <NUM> and the second sensor <NUM> may be symmetrical to each other with respect to the servo robot <NUM>.

In addition, the preset distance between the first sensor <NUM> and the servo robot <NUM> and the preset distance between the second sensor <NUM> and the servo robot <NUM> may be set according to an allowable error range in aligning the label <NUM>.

For example, when the distance between the first sensor <NUM> and the servo robot <NUM> and the distance between the second sensor <NUM> and the servo robot <NUM> are far from each other, even a slight misalignment of the label <NUM> may cause label alignment to be defective. In comparison, when the distance between the first sensor <NUM> and the servo robot <NUM> and the distance between the second sensor <NUM> and the servo robot <NUM> are close to each other, defective label alignment may be detected only when the label <NUM> is further misaligned than when the distance between the first sensor <NUM> and the servo robot <NUM> and the distance between the second sensor <NUM> and the servo robot <NUM> is far from each other.

Meanwhile, the servo robot <NUM> may move the label support and locate the label at an alignment determination position.

Meanwhile, the alignment determination position may be a position at which the label <NUM> can be detected simultaneously by the first sensor <NUM> and the second sensor <NUM> while the label is normally aligned.

Meanwhile, the alignment determination part (not shown) may determine an alignment defect when the label <NUM> is detected only by either the first sensor <NUM> or the second sensor <NUM>, and when the label <NUM> is detected by both two sensors <NUM> and <NUM>, the alignment determination part may determine normal alignment.

Meanwhile, the label alignment part may include: a rotation part <NUM> configured to rotate the label support clockwise or counterclockwise; and a rotation control part configured to control a rotation direction and a rotation angle of the rotation part.

More specifically, the rotation control part <NUM> does not transmit a separate rotation command to the rotation part when the alignment determination part determines a normal alignment state, but may transmit a rotation command to the rotation part when the alignment determination part determines a defective alignment state.

More specifically, the rotation control unit may transmit to the rotation part <NUM> a signal of a command to rotate the rotation part <NUM> counterclockwise by a predetermined angle when the label is detected only by the first sensor, and transmit a signal of a command to rotate the rotation alignment determination part determines a normal alignment state, but may transmit to the rotation part <NUM> a signal of a command to rotate the rotation part <NUM> clockwise by a predetermined angle when the label is detected only by the second sensor.

Meanwhile, the predetermined angle by which the rotation part <NUM> rotates may be an angle set in advance or may be set different according to the amount of light detected by the first sensor or the second sensor when the first sensor or the second sensor can detect the amount of light.

For example, when much amount of light is detected, the rotation part may be rotated by a small angle, and when less amount of light is detected, the rotation part may be rotated by a large angle.

Meanwhile, as such, when the label alignment is completed, the completely aligned label can be attached by pressing the label to a battery pack.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating a sequence of a battery label attachment method in accordance with the present invention.

Hereinafter with reference to <FIG>, a battery label attachment method in accordance with the present invention will be described.

In accordance with the present invention, a method for attaching a label to a battery includes: a label separating operation (S100) for separating a protective paper and the label and placing the label on a label support; and a label alignment state check operation (S200) for checking an alignment state of the label separated in the label separating operation, wherein a label attaching operation (S300) for attaching the label to the battery may be performed when a normal alignment state is checked in the label alignment check operation (S200), and when a defective alignment state is checked in the label alignment state check operation (S200), a label aligning operation (S210) for aligning the label may be performed and then the label attaching operation (S300) may be performed.

More specifically, the label alignment state check operation (S200) is a operation in which an alignment state is checked by using a first sensor disposed to be spaced apart a preset distance to the left with respect to a servo robot that moves the label support and a second sensor disposed to be spaced apart a preset distance to the right with respect to the servo robot that moves the label support.

More specifically, in the label alignment state check operation (S200), when the label is detected by either the first or second sensor, label alignment may be determined to be defective, and when the label is detected by both of the first and second sensors, the label alignment may be determined to be normal.

Meanwhile, the label aligning operation (S210) may not be performed when the label alignment is determined to be normal in the label alignment state check operation (S200).

Meanwhile, the label aligning operation (S210) may be performed when the label alignment is determined to be defective in the label alignment state check operation (S200).

More specifically, in the label aligning operation (S210), when the label is detected only by the first sensor, the rotation part is rotated counterclockwise by a predetermined angle to align the label, and when the label is detected only by the second sensor, the rotation part is rotated clockwise by a predetermined angle to align the label.

Meanwhile, the predetermined rotation angle may be an angle set in advance or may be set different according to the amount of light detected by the first sensor or the second sensor when the first sensor or the second sensor can detect the amount of light.

Claim 1:
A label attachment apparatus for attaching a label (<NUM>) to a battery case, comprising:
a label support on which the label (<NUM>) is placed;
an alignment check part (<NUM>, <NUM>) configured to check whether an alignment state of the label (<NUM>) is normal or defective; and
a label aligning part configured to align the label (<NUM>) when the alignment state determined by the alignment check part (<NUM>,<NUM>) is defective, wherein the alignment check part (<NUM>, <NUM>) consists of:
a servo robot (<NUM>) configured to move the label support, on which the label (<NUM>) is placed, to a corresponding position of the battery, the label (<NUM>) being attachable to the battery at the corresponding position of the battery;
two sensors (<NUM>, <NUM>) configured to sense the alignment state of the label (<NUM>); and an alignment determining part configured to determine, according to a combination of signals detected by the two sensors (<NUM>, <NUM>), whether the alignment state is normal or defective,
wherein the two sensors (<NUM>, <NUM>) comprise:
a first sensor (<NUM>) disposed to be spaced apart by a preset distance to the left with respect to the servo robot (<NUM>); and
a second sensor (<NUM>) disposed to be spaced apart a preset distance to the right with respect to the servo robot (<NUM>), wherein
the first sensor and the second sensor (<NUM>, <NUM>) are disposed side by side on a straight line perpendicular to a moving direction of the servo robot (<NUM>).