ACTIVE MATERIAL COATING APPARATUS AND COATING METHOD USING THE SAME

• US 20110287171A1
• Filed: 10/26/2010
• Published: 11/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung SDI Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Samsung SDI Company Limited
• Inventors: Hwang, Jee-Sang, Kim, Gi-Sung, Seo, Won-Sub, Heo, Kyoung-Heon
• Granted Patent: US 9,067,229 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 427/8
• CPC Class Codes: B05C 5/0245 for applying liquid or other fluent material to a moving work of indefinite length, e.g. to a moving web B05C5/0241, B05C5/0254, B05C5/027, B05C5/0283 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B05C 5/0254 Coating heads with slot-shaped outlet B05C5/0283 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B05C 5/0262 adjustable in width, i.e. having lips movable relative to each other in order to modify the slot width, e.g. to close it
• CPC Class Codes: B05C 5/0266 adjustable in length, e.g. for coating webs of different width
• CPC Class Codes: B05D 1/265 Extrusion coatings
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/07 Flat, e.g. panels
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/313 by positioning the die lips
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/92 Measuring, controlling or regulating
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/0404 by coating on electrode collectors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

The present invention provides an active material coating apparatus to form an active material layer having a uniform thickness in a width direction of a substrate when forming the active material layer on a substrate.

An active material coating apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a lower die having a groove for supplying an active material of a slurry state and forming a first lip portion of an outlet slot connected to the groove and outputting the active material; an upper die disposed on an upper side of the lower die to face the first lip portion, having a second lip portion of the outlet slot, and having a hinge portion at the rear of the second lip portion according to the outlet direction of the active material; a fixing spacer interposed between the lower die and the upper die at the rear of the hinge portion according to the outlet direction of the active material and determining a fixing gap; a flexible spacer interposed between the first lip portion and the second lip portion on both sides of the width direction of the outlet slot and forming a variable gap; and a controller installed to the upper die and pushing/pulling the second lip portion with respect to the hinge portion to control the variable gap between the first lip portion and the second lip portion.

Claims

1. An active material coating apparatus comprising:

a lower die having a groove for supplying an active material in a slurry state wherein the lower die forms a first lip portion of an outlet slot connected to the groove which outputs the active material;

an upper die disposed on an upper side of the lower die to face the first lip portion, wherein the upper die has a second lip portion of the outlet slot, and further has a hinge portion at the rear of the second lip portion according to the outlet direction of the active material;

a fixing spacer interposed between the lower die and the upper die at the rear of the hinge portion according to the outlet direction of the active material and wherein the fixing spacer determines a fixing gap;

a flexible spacer interposed between the first lip portion and the second lip portion on both sides of the width direction of the outlet slot and forming a variable gap; and

a controller installed to the upper die and moving the second lip portion with respect to the hinge portion to control the variable gap between the first lip portion and the second lip portion.

2. The active material coating apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the fixing spacer is formed of steel, and

includes a main body disposed according to the width direction of the outlet slot at the rear of the groove, and

a pair of branch portions extended in the outlet direction of the active material on both sides of the main body and wherein the branch portions provide a first determination of the width of the outlet slot.

3. The active material coating apparatus of claim 2, wherein

the flexible spacer

is supported by the front end of the branch portion for the outlet direction of the active material, and

is controlled in the width direction of the outlet slot to provide a second determination of the width of the outlet slot.

4. The active material coating apparatus of claim 2, wherein

the flexible spacer

includes a guide hole elongated in the width direction of the outlet slot, and

wherein the first lip portion

includes a guide pin inserted in the guide hole.

5. The active material coating apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the flexible spacer is formed of

a single-layered structure of one of synthetic resin and synthetic rubber.

6. The active material coating apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the flexible spacer is formed of

a multi-layered structure including a synthetic resin layer and a steel layer that are alternately disposed.

7. The active material coating apparatus, of claim 1, wherein

the flexible spacer includes

a shim made of steel, and

a flexible layer made of synthetic rubber, synthetic resin, or silicone, and covering the shim.

8. The active material coating apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the flexible spacer includes

a shim made of steel,

a flexible layer made of synthetic rubber or silicone, and covering the shim, and

a lower friction layer made of PTFE and covering the flexible layer.

9. A method coating an active material comprising:

determining a fixing gap between a lower die and an upper die through a fixing spacer as a first step;

determining a width of an outlet slot by a first lip portion of the lower die and a second lip portion of the upper die through a flexible spacer as a second step;

moving the second lip portion with respect to the hinge portion through a controller to control the variable gap between the first lip portion and the second lip portion as a third step; and

outputting an active material of a slurry state through an outlet slot that is controlled with the width of the variable gap to coat the active material layer on a proceeding substrate at the front end of the outlet slot.

10. An apparatus for coating a substrate used in a battery with an active material, the apparatus comprising:

a first die that is configured to supply an active material in a slurry state, wherein the first die defines a first lip portion of an outlet slot that receives the active material from the first die and outputs the active material;

a second die that engages with the first die, wherein the second die defines a second lip portion of the outlet slot wherein the first and second dies are movable with respect to each other;

a first spacer that is interposed between the first and the second die, wherein the first spacer is positioned a first distance from the outlet slot and defines a first gap of the outlet slot;

a second spacer that is interposed between the first and the second die, wherein the second spacer is positioned a second distance, less than the first distance form the outlet slot, wherein the second spacer is flexible such that movement between the first and the second die can result in the first gap of the outlet slot being varied; and

a controller that induces movement between the first and the second dies so as to vary the first gap of the outlet slot to provide more uniform thickness of the battery active material through the outlet slot.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first die includes a groove that supplies the active material in a slurry state to the outlet slot.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the second die includes a hinged portion that is movable by the controller to control the width of the outlet slot.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the first spacer is a fixed spacer having a base and two arms that extend in the direction of the outlet slot.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the second spacer is a flexible spacer that is positioned on the ends of the arms of the first spacer.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the flexible spacer is movable so as to adjust the width of the outlet slot.