Patent ID: 12237530

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in such a manner that the technical idea of the present invention may easily be carried out by a person with ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains. The present invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

In order to clearly describe the present invention, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted, and the same reference numerals are assigned to the same or similar components throughout the specification.

Also, terms or words used in this specification and claims should not be restrictively interpreted as ordinary meanings or dictionary-based meanings, but should be interpreted as meanings and concepts conforming to the scope of the present invention on the basis of the principle that an inventor can properly define the concept of a term to describe and explain his or her invention in the best ways.

The present invention provides a degassing apparatus for removing a gas in a pouch and a degassing method that is capable of performing degassing using the degassing apparatus according to embodiments, respectively. Thus, hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First Embodiment

The present invention provides a degassing method for removing a gas in a pouch as a first embodiment.

Referring toFIG.2illustrating a flowchart of the degassing method according to the present invention, the degassing method according to the present invention relates to a method for degassing a pouch10comprising a body part10a, on which an electrode assembly is mounted, and into which an electrolyte is injected, and a gas pocket part10bextending from the body part10ato one side and comprises a pouch seating step (S10), a cooling step (S20), a pressing step (S30), and an inhalation step (S40).

The pouch seating step (S10) is a step of seating the body part10aon a lower mold20. As illustrated inFIG.5that illustrates a state in which the electrode assembly11is inserted into the pouch10, the pouch10to be seated on the lower mold20is seated after the electrolyte and the electrode assembly11are embedded in the body part10a, and then, an aging process and an activation process are completely performed.

After the pouch seating step (S10), the pressing step (S30) is performed, and the cooling step (S20) is performed before the pressing step (S30) or during the pressing step (S30). That is, a start time of the cooling step (S20) may be different depending on whether a cooling member50is installed on the lower mold20or an upper mold30.

In the cooling step (S20), the cooling member50installed (or connected to be heat-exchanged) on at least one of the lower mold20or the upper mold30or both the lower mold20and the upper mold30is configured to cool the body part10aof the pouch10. In the pressing step (S30), the upper mold30descends to press the body part10aplaced on the lower mold20at a predetermined pressure.

Here, if the cooling member50is mounted on or connected to the upper mold30before the body part10ais cooled to a predetermined temperature, in the pressing step (S30), a contact step, in which a contact state is maintained for a certain time without a substantial pressure causing movement of a gas may be selectively performed so that a pressure is not applied to the body part10a, but only heat exchange for the cooling is performed. Also, when the body part10ais cooled to a predetermined temperature, the contact step may be released, and an appropriate pressure may be applied to cause the movement of the gas in the body part10a.

After the pressing step (S30), the inhalation step (S40) is performed, and the cooling step (S20), in which the body part10ais cooled to increase in viscosity of the electrolyte, may be performed before or after the pressing step (S30) before the inhalation step (S40).

In the inhalation step (S40), an end of the gas inhaler40is inserted into the gas pocket part10bof the pouch10to apply a certain negative pressure, thereby suctioning the gas. Here, the gas in the body part10ais in a state of moving to the gas pocket part10bthrough the pressing step (S30), and the movement of the electrolyte of which the viscosity increases through the cooling step (S20) is suppressed in the pressing step (S30), and thus, an amount of electrolyte moving to the gas inhaler40is minimized. Therefore, the inhalation step (S40) is started after cooling the electrolyte so that the viscosity of the electrolyte sufficiently increases.

As described above, if before the inhalation step (S40), the cooling step (S20) is possible even after the pressing step (S30), but if the cooling member50is configured to be disposed on the lower mold20, it is preferable that the cooling step (S20) is started after the pouch seating step (S10) and before the pressing step (S30) to increase in process rate.

Also, if the temperature of the electrolyte is sufficiently low in order to increase in process rate, or if instantaneous cooling is possible according to performance of the cooling member50, the inhalation step (S40) may be started simultaneously when the cooling step (S20) and the pressing step (S30) are performed.

Also, the end of the cooling step (S20) may be adjusted according to the change in cooling rate and viscosity of the electrolyte, and the negative pressure acting in the inhalation step (S40) may be adjusted according to the change in viscosity of the electrolyte. However, in this embodiment, the inhalation step (S40) may be started after the electrolyte is cooled to a predetermined temperature or less, and it is preferable that, in the cooling step (S20), the electrolyte is cooled within a temperature range in which a change in physical property of the electrolyte does not occur.

Also, in the cooling step (S20), a connection point between the body part10aand the gas pocket part10bmay be cooled faster than other points. That is, as illustrated inFIG.5, a temperature at a point B, at which a boundary between the body part10aand the gas pocket part10bof the pouch10is disposed, is further lowered instantaneously to relatively further increase in viscosity of the electrolyte disposed at the point, thereby more efficiently decreasing in amount of electrolyte moving to the gas pocket part10b.

Second Embodiment

The present invention provides a degassing apparatus for removing a gas in a pouch as a second embodiment.

Referring toFIG.3that illustrates a simplified schematic view of the degassing apparatus according to the present invention andFIG.4that illustrates an internal configuration of a Peltier element51comprised in the degassing apparatus according to the present invention, the degassing apparatus according to the present invention additionally comprises a cooling device when compared to the degassing apparatus according to the related art.

That is, the degassing apparatus according to this embodiment is a degassing apparatus for a pouch10comprising a body part10a, on which an electrode assembly11is mounted, and into which an electrolyte is injected, and a gas pocket part10bextending from the body part10ato one side. The degassing apparatus comprises a lower mold20placed on a bottom surface of the body part10aand an upper mold30descending to press a top surface of the body part10aplaced on the lower mold20. As illustrated inFIG.3, at least one or more of the lower mold20or the upper mold30may be connected or coupled to a cooling member50so as to be heat-exchanged, or the cooling member is directly mounted on at least one or more of the lower mold20or the upper mold30to cool at least one or more of the lower mold20or the upper mold30.

Thus, at least one or both of the upper mold30or the lower mold20cools the body part10awhen being in contact with the body part10ato cool the electrolyte injected into the body part10a, and the cooled electrolyte increases in viscosity in proportion to the decreasing temperature.

Furthermore, the degassing apparatus according to this embodiment further comprises a gas inhaler40that suctions a gas by inserting an end of the inhaler40into the gas pocket part10bwhen the lower mold20and the upper mold30press the body part10a.

The cooling member50is not particularly limited as long as the cooling member50is a device capable of rapidly performing the cooling, but in the present invention, the cooling member50comprises a Peltier element51, in which the cooling is relatively easily controlled by adjusting an amount of current, and cooling performance is excellent, and particularly, instantaneous cooling is capable of being performed.

The Peltier element51may be configured to be cooled when the current is applied. That is, the Peltier element51is an element using a Peltier effect that generates a temperature difference by generating and absorbing heat at both sides at the same time when a potential difference occurs. The Peltier element51is configured to have a cooling effect by taking energy away from one metal in order that electrons move between two metals, in which the potential difference occurs. In the Peltier element51according to the present invention, a p-type semiconductor56and an n-type semiconductor57are disposed between two plates54and55, and when current is applied to the p-type semiconductor56and the n-type semiconductor57through cables52,53, energy of one plate54is taken away to be cooled.

A plurality of Peltier elements51may be directly attached to the lower mold20or the upper mold30so as to be cooled or may be heat-exchanged with the lower mold20or the upper mold30through a refrigerant or the like so as to be cooled.

However, in order to improve the cooling efficiency, it is more preferable that a method in which the plate54, in which the cooling is performed, of the Peltier element51is directly attached to the upper mold30or the lower mold20.

Furthermore, the degassing apparatus according to this embodiment may be configured so that a specific portion of the body part10ais cooled more rapidly. That is, the plurality of the Peltier elements51may be arranged at regular intervals on a surface of the upper mold30or a surface of the lower mold20, which is in contact with the body part10a. Here, the Peltier element having a larger output at a specific portion B may be disposed to more quickly cool the specific portion of the body part10athan other portions, or the Peltier elements51are disposed more densely at the specific portion to more quickly cool the specific portion (for example, a portion ‘B’ inFIG.5) of the body part10a.

The Peltier element51may be installed only on any one of the lower mold20or the upper mold30, but it is preferable to be installed on both the upper mold30and the lower mold20so as to perform the rapid cooling. Also, if the Peltier element51has to be installed on only one place, it is more preferable to be installed on the lower mold20having a relatively longer contact time with the body part10athan to be installed on the upper mold30.

In this embodiment, when the viscosity of the electrolyte before the cooling is ‘X’, the cooling member50may be configured to cool the electrolyte until the viscosity of the electrolyte after the cooling becomes ‘1.5×’ or more.

For example, when a temperature of the electrolyte before the cooling is 20 degrees to 30 degrees, a temperature of the electrolyte after the cooling may be cooled to a temperature of 0 degree to 15 degrees by the cooling member50. For example, if the viscosity is 4.37 Pa.s when a temperature of the electrolyte before the cooling is 25° C., the cooling may be performed up to a specific temperature at which the viscosity is 6.56 Pa·s or more.

For reference, the electrolyte may have a viscosity of 6.80 Pa·s at a temperature of 10° C. That is, when the electrolyte is cooled by a temperature of 15° C. (from 20° C. to 15° C.), the viscosity increases by approximately 56%. When the electrolyte is pressed, since the movement of the electrolyte solution having the increasing viscosity is reduced when compared to a case in which the temperature is relatively high. Thus, the movement of the electrolyte to the gas pocket part10bof the pouch10may be prevented.

In the present invention, the gas inhaler40may suction a gas after the temperature of the electrolyte is cooled to a predetermined reference temperature or more, and the end of the gas inhaler40may be inserted into the gas pocket part10bbefore cooling the electrolyte. However, it is preferable to be configured so that the end of the gas inhaler40is inserted after cooling the electrolyte as much as possible.

In the present invention having the above configuration, since the cooling liquid is sufficiently cooled before the gas is suctioned to increase in viscosity, the movement of the gas to the gas pocket part10bmay be suppressed as much as possible to prevent the electrolyte from being unnecessarily discharged.

In the present invention, since the cooling of the electrolyte is adjusted according to the change in cooling rate and viscosity of the electrolyte, the secondary batteries having various specifications may be applied.

In addition, in the present invention, the viscosity of the electrolyte at the specific point (particularly, the point that is close to the boundary with the gas pocket part10b) may further increase by cooling the specific point more rapidly, and thus, the amount and speed of the electrolyte moving to the gas pocket part10bmay be delayed

In addition, the degassing apparatus according to the present invention may comprise the Peltier element51that is cooled when the current is applied so that the cooling of the electrolyte is performed relatively simply and quickly through the control of the current, and the cooling may be more efficiently controlled according to the viscosity of the electrolyte.

While the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SYMBOLS

10: Pouch (10a: body part,10b: Gas pocket part)20: Lower mold30: Upper mold40: Gas inhaler50: Cooling device