Battery Weld Inspection
Battery weld inspection in GoCater devices involves a thorough examination of the welded joints in the battery assembly. This process ensures the integrity and quality of the welds, preventing potential issues such as poor connections or safety hazards.
Industry Application
There is a growing demand for high-performance batteries, such as lithium-ion for mobile
and stationary energy storage. Reliable manufacturing processes are essential during battery
production as they prevent premature performance degradation or, in the worst case
scenario, cell/battery explosion.
3D machine vision systems play a critical role in ensuring battery quality and minimal waste.
In this feature application we’ll focus on four key phases of battery weld inspection using 3D
smart sensors.
Pre-welding gap & flush measurement
The Challenge
Before the battery is welded, engineers need to detect the gap & flush of the battery shell
and top cover. If the measurement is in excess of 0.5 mm (for gap) or 1 mm (for flush), it will
be impossible to weld the shell and the top cover together.
The Solution
Gocator® offers high-speed 3D laser profiling and a built-in gap & flush tool to solve this
challenge. The typical system configuration involves a Gocator® 2330 multi-sensor network to
achieve the required field of view.
Weld seam inspection of the battery cells
The Challenge
The second application comes after the laser welding of the battery cells is complete. This
weld has to be verified for quality in order to detect if there are any overflows or breaks/
openings in the seam.
The Solution
Networked Gocator® 3D laser profile sensors are mounted at a 45 degree angle in the Z
and X axes in order to scan all four edges of the battery, while delivering the same high
performance on each edge
Spot welding inspection on the connector module
The Challenge
After the cells are welded, connectors are spot welded to the electrodes in order to build
them out in series. The connector is spot-welded to the electrodes in order to build them out
in series. The spot welds need to be inspected for correct height and position.
The Solution
Gocator® offers two built-in tools to solve this challenge. The first is a native height* detection
tool that is based on blob analysis, and the second is a position detection tool that leverages
data from all four sides of the battery for high-accuracy results.
Package weld seam quality
The Challenge
In the next step, cells are combined into a single package that requires welding in the corner
of the shell. The corner weld seam has to be inspected in order to ensure the package is
stable.
The Solution
Engineers can use either Gocator® 3D line profile sensors or snapshot sensors for this
application, depending on their needs. Gocator® locates the seam and produces height and
intensity data, as well as accurate pass (OK) counts on compliant corner weld seams and fail
(NG) counts on overflowing/broken/missing seams.
Conclusion
Gocator® 3D smart sensors offer a variety of built-in features and functionality designed to easily
solve the specific challenges of battery weld inspection in today’s growing consumer electronics
(CE) industry
Only with 3D sensing are you able to measure the following features on a battery:
- Surface
- Edges
- Dimensions
- Weld seams
- Cell height
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you the help you need.