Conveyor and conveying method

{
  "publication_number": "US9139373B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Conveyor and conveying method",
  "abstract": "A conveyor is provided with a supply roll, a plurality of movement parts and a first securing device. The supply roll is rotatably arranged and is configured to support a belt-shaped cell material for an electrode or a separator to intermittently feeding out the cell material by rotation of the supply roll. The movement parts are configured to lengthen and shorten a conveying route by conveyably holding the cell material fed out from the supply roll. The first securing device is configured to secure the cell material. The first securing device is provided upstream from the movement parts along a direction in which the cell material is conveyed. The movement parts are further configured to change position so as to shorten the conveying route in a state in which the cell material is secured by the first securing device.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A conveyor comprising: a supply roll rotatably arranged and configured to support a belt-shaped cell material for an electrode or a separator to intermittently feeding out the cell material by rotation of the supply roll; a plurality of movement parts configured to lengthen and shorten a conveying route by conveyably holding the cell material fed out from the supply roll; and a first securing device configured to secure the cell material, the first securing device being provided upstream from the movement parts along a direction in which the cell material is conveyed; the movement parts changing position so as to shorten the conveying route in a state in which the cell material is secured by the first securing device and feed the cell material downstream from the moving part while the supply roll is replaced.",
    "2. The conveyor according to claim 1, further comprising: a detection device arranged with respect to the conveying route to detect the cell material; and a controller programmed to operate the first securing device to secure the cell material in place when an ending edge of the cell material is specified by a detection signal from the detection device.",
    "3. The conveyor according to claim 1, further comprising: a draw-out section arranged with respect to the supply roll to intermittently draw out the cell material by pulling the cell material, the draw-out section being provided downstream in the conveying direction from the movement parts along the conveying route; and a second securing device configured to secure the cell material when the draw-out section draws out a predetermined length of cell material, the second securing section being provided downstream in the conveying direction from the draw-out section.",
    "4. The conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the movement parts is configured to change position so as to again lengthen the conveying route after the securing of the cell material by the first securing section has been released.",
    "5. The conveyor according to claim 4, wherein the movement parts is configured to change position so as to lengthen the conveying route throughout multiple draw-out actions repeated by the draw-out section.",
    "6. The conveyor according to claim 1, wherein the supply roll is rotatably held on a moveable support base, and the supply roll can be replaced with each support base after the cell material has been secured by the first securing section.",
    "7. A conveying method comprising: feeding out and conveying a belt-shaped cell material from a supply roll on which the cell material is wound, the cell material being a material for an electrode or a separator; securing the cell material at a first location along in a conveying route of the cell material; shortening the conveying route at a second location by changing positions of movement parts for conveyably holding the cell material farther downstream in a cell material conveying direction than the first location; and replacing the supply roll with a new supply roll of additional cell material while the cell material positioned on the movement parts is supplied downstream.",
    "8. The conveying method according to claim 7, wherein the cell material is secured when an ending edge of the cell material is detected.",
    "9. The conveying method according to claim 7, further comprising securing the cell material at a third location along the conveying route; and intermittently pulling the cell material from the supply roll at a fourth location that is upstream from the third location in the cell material conveying direction.",
    "10. The conveying method according to claim 7, further comprising lengthening the conveying route by changing the positions of the movement parts after the securing of the cell material at the first location has been released.",
    "11. The conveying method according to claim 10, wherein the-lengthening of the conveying route is carried throughout repeated multiple cell material draw-out actions.",
    "12. The conveying method according to claim 7, wherein the replacing of the supply roll after the cell material has been secured at the first location, and the replacing of the supply roll is carried out with each moveable support base for rotatably holding the supply roll."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "1. Field of the Invention\n\nThe present invention relates to a conveyor and a conveying method for conveying a belt-shaped cell material that is a material from which electrodes or separators are cut out.\n\n2. Background Information\n\nRecent cells comprise an electrode assembly wherein multiple positive electrodes and negative electrodes as electrodes are superposed together with separators in between. As a method for manufacturing the electrode assembly of such a cell, Patent Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2009-256052, for example, discloses a method for manufacturing a roll-shaped electrode assembly by superposing a belt-shaped cell material, which is the material for the electrodes and the separators, and winding the cell material around a winding shaft while the cell material is drawn out from a supply roll on which the cell material has been wound.\n\nIn the method disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2009-256052, when there is no longer any cell material or a small amount of the cell material on the supply roll, the equipment must be temporarily stopped and the supply roll must be replaced with a new roll. However, production does not proceed while the equipment is stopped, and productivity declines.\n\nThe present invention was devised in order to resolve the problems described above, it being an object of the invention to provide a conveyor and a conveying method that can improve productivity without the need to stop the equipment when the supply roll is replaced.",
  "cpc": [
    "B65G 35/04",
    "H01M 10/0409",
    "H01M 10/0525",
    "H01M 10/0587",
    "Y02E 60/10",
    "Y02P 70/50"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "B65G 35/04",
    "H01M 10/04",
    "H01M 10/0525",
    "H01M 10/0587",
    "H01M 4/04"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Nissan Motor Co Ltd",
    "Automotive Energy Supply Corp"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Hiroshi Kanno",
    "Ryuji Fukada",
    "Keisuke Uekusa",
    "Osamu Tanimoto"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2013-02-13",
  "publication_date": "2015-09-22",
  "grant_date": "2015-09-22",
  "priority_date": "2012-02-13",
  "application_number": "US-201314370599-A",
  "family_id": "48984201",
  "cited_by_count": 2,
  "citations": [
    "JPH09226991A",
    "DE19800278A1",
    "JP2000353514A",
    "JP2002033098A",
    "DE20303348U1",
    "JP2004327154A",
    "US20060289453A1",
    "JP2009134931A",
    "JP2009256052A",
    "US8882858B2"
  ]
}