Battery Welding Lithium Batteries - Sunstone Welders

Welding Lithium Battery Cells

Lithium Batteries are quickly becoming the norm in batteries. Lithium batteries are so named due to the lithium anode used in the construction of these cells. Lithium batteries stand apart from other cells in a couple of different ways. First, Lithium cells have a high discharge density and have the ability to charge and discharge very efficiently. Lithium Cells are commonly used in Portable Electronics, Radio Controlled hobbies, and Electric Vehicles. There are 4 main types of Lithium Battery Cells. Prismatic, Pouch, Cylindrical, and Button Cells. Each of these cells are compatible with welding. Below we will discuss each of them and welding applications of each of these cells.  

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Prismatic Lithium Cells

Prismatic Lithium Cells are one of the more common types of Lithium Battery cells. They are commonly used in cell phones, tablets, cameras, and in electric vehicles. A prismatic cell consists of the anode, cathode, separator, and electrolyte wrapped in a metal container. Each prismatic cell is custom made for each application, and there is hardly any crossover from cell to cell. Prismatic Cells are generally safer than most lithium cells, and provide an added layer of protection, as they are sealed in a metal case. 

Welding Prismatic Cells

There are a variety of applications for welding prismatic Cells. 

• Weld tabs and multiple layers of current collectors
• Welding multiple layers of foils
• Weld Tabs Together to create battery assemblies
• encase and seal cases and covers.
• Cell to Cell Joining
• Module to Module Joining

Lithium Pouch Cells

Lithium pouch cells consist of stacked layers of anodes, separators, and cathodes sandwiched in between layers of the laminated film. These pouch cells can be created in custom sizes and shapes. Each Pouch cell provides 3-4 volts. Pouch cells are then connected in series and parallel to acquire the desired voltage, and capacity. In a pouch cell configuration, the S in the number specifies how many are in series, and the P specifies how many pack assemblies. For example, if you have a 4s4p pack, this would be a total of 16 cells. 4 packs of 4 cells each. 

Welding Lithium Pouch Cells

Lithium pouch cells can be welded in a number of ways, both in the creation and in the assembly process. 

Applications:

• Hermetic sealing of custom Pouches
• Welding Layers to Lead tabs
• Creating Lead tabs
• Cell to Cell Connections
• Module to module Connections

Lithium Cylindrical Cells

Cylindrical Cells are becoming more and more common as various industries require the high discharge rates that Lithium Cells provide. Cylindrical cells consist of anode, cathode, and separator rolled up and sealed in a battery canister with an electrolyte. These cylindrical cells come in various sizes. The number system used to classify the battery is also the size of the cell. For example, a cell is 18 mm x 65 mm. A cell is 26mm x 65 mm. Cylindrical cells do have a higher safety concern in that they generally have a positive and negative terminal on the same side. The side of the can generally is the negative terminal and the raised portion the positive, these can easily be shorted if the wrapping is damaged or removed. 

Welding Cylindrical Lithium Cells

Here at Sunstone Welders, we understand that the future of batteries is in both lithium cells, and high voltage, high capacity battery packs. We Believe that the best way to improve battery packs is to use Cooper battery tabs instead of traditional nickel. Copper battery tabs give both better battery performance, but as well better battery lifespan. Sunstone Welders pioneered welding copper battery tabs with the Sunstone Omega PA250i Welding system. This system provides an economical, robust, system for welding Lithium Cylindrical cells.

Customer Highlight Using Copper Tabs

Lithium Button or Coin Cells

The last lithium cell type is the Lithium Button or coin Cells. Used in small electronics, Watches, Calculators, medical devices and anywhere a small battery is required. Button Cells come in both an alkaline and lithium type battery. 

Welding Lithium Button or Coin Cells

Coin or Button Lithium Cells Can be welded using traditional battery welding technology. A tab is used to either join several cells together or to extend the connection of a button or coin cell. A magnet wire can be attached to the cell to create an electrical connection, or for monitoring. 

As a high-precision and high-efficiency welding technology, battery laser welding plays an important role in the manufacture of lithium battery packs. This article will introduce the application of battery laser welding technology in lithium battery packs, and discuss its advantages and future development prospects.

1. Advantages of battery laser welding technology

The application of battery laser welding technology in lithium battery pack including ternary lithium battery and lifepo4 battery has the following advantages:

High-precision welding: Battery laser welding can achieve micron-level weld seam control, making the welding connection more uniform and reliable.

Small heat-affected zone: Battery laser welding has the characteristics of high energy density and rapid heating, which makes the heat-affected zone extremely small and reduces thermal damage to surrounding materials.

High efficiency and automation: Laser welding has the ability of high-speed welding and automatic operation, which can greatly improve production efficiency and quality stability.

No need for welding materials: Battery laser welding is a non-contact welding technology that does not require additional welding materials, reducing material costs and pollution.

2. Key technology of battery laser welding in lithium battery pack production line

Lithium battery laser welding machine battery module automatic production line, generally including battery loading, scanning code, testing, cleaning, sorting, module stacking, stacking inspection, module welding, welding inspection, module unloading and other processes .

Material transfer system, self-adaptive system, visual positioning system, MES manufacturing execution management, etc. are the key technologies in battery laser welding, and also important technical support for adapting to small-batch and multi-variety production forms.

Material transfer system

From cell loading to final module unloading, the entire material transfer is completed through the material transfer system. The material transfer system can also flexibly expand the station according to the adjustment requirements of the process. The transfer between different stations does not require manual operation.

The module positioning plate has a product size adjustment mechanism, which can adapt to the clamping of modules of different sizes, and is very suitable for the production needs of small batches and multiple varieties.

Self-adaptive system

In the production process of battery packs, pouch, prismatic, and cylinders are the most common types of incoming battery packs. After batteries of different types and sizes are stacked into battery packs of different sizes, they need to be adapted after each process. Adaptive system to ensure the linkage of the whole line beat. Especially in the welding process, the packing process can only be completed if modules of different sizes are adapted.

The self-adaptive system adopts multi-axis combined linkage to implement position positioning in the product processing area, and is not restricted by any form of incoming materials, completes the welding work and transmits it to the next process.

Visual positioning system

Cell welding surface cleaning, module marking, and busbar welding are usually done by laser processing. After the battery module is assembled, the dimensional tolerance is often large, and it is difficult to meet the gap position size requirements for laser processing, resulting in a rapid decline in processing quality.

The introduction of the visual positioning system can meet the needs of precise positioning, and the accuracy can reach ± 0.05mm. Through visual camera data collection, and feed back the deviation of incoming materials to the control system, high-precision positioning of the processing position is realized.

MES manufacturing execution management system

From cell loading to final module unloading, the parameters, data, and other incoming material information of each process can be quickly queried and analyzed in a timely manner through the MES system, truly achieving process controllability and high productivity.

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The process data package in the battery laser welding process is directly integrated in the MES system. In order to facilitate users to call and switch, the whole set of MES system can directly build the production line into a quasi-unmanned production workshop, and manual labor only needs to replenish materials at the periphery, which improves safety.

3. Application of battery laser welding in lithium battery pack

The application of battery laser welding technology in lithium battery pack mainly includes the following aspects:

Battery cell connection: Battery laser welding can realize the connection between battery cells to ensure the reliability and stability of the connection. Through laser welding, high-strength welds can be achieved, improving the overall performance of the battery pack.

Battery pack connection: Battery laser welding can be used to different battery hookup, ensuring electrical and mechanical connection between modules. The high precision and high efficiency of laser welding make the module connection more firm and reliable.

Conductive sheet connection: Laser welding can be used to connect conductive sheets and battery cells to realize current transmission. The high energy density of battery laser welding can quickly complete the welding process and ensure the stability and conductivity of the connection.

4. Application and welding advantages of laser welding equipment in energy storage batteries

The energy storage battery is a whole composed of battery energy storage equipment, PCS and filtering links. In the field of laser welding of energy storage batteries, pulsed lasers, continuous lasers, and quasi-continuous lasers are currently the most used.

Pulse laser: YAG laser, MOPA laser;

Continuous laser: continuous semiconductor laser, continuous fiber laser;

Quasi-continuous laser: QCW laser series.

The welding advantages of laser welding equipment in terms of energy storage batteries include the following aspects:

The welding process is non-contact welding, and the internal stress of the welding rib is reduced to the minimum during the welding process;

The welding process does not produce other flashes and other released substances to prevent secondary pollution;

The strength and airtightness of the welding are high, which can meet the functional requirements;

Battery laser welding can meet the welding between different substances, and can also realize the connection technology between membrane materials and heterogeneous substances;

Battery laser welding is convenient for automatic integration, and can also achieve synchronous laser welding process schemes according to production capacity needs, with high efficiency and small welding internal stress;

The structure involved in battery laser welding is simple and convenient, and the difficulty factor of the mold structure is reduced;

The welding process can realize digital intelligent monitoring, which meets the needs of data visualization in the welding process;

This type of welding process scheme can be effectively integrated with automated production lines, meeting the needs of mass production schemes, achieving high-efficiency production, and low consumption.

5. The future development prospect of battery laser welding

The application of laser welding technology in lithium battery packs is still developing and has broad prospects:

Further improve efficiency: With the continuous innovation and improvement of laser welding technology, its welding speed and quality will be further improved, further improving production efficiency and reducing costs.

Adapt to a variety of materials: Battery laser welding technology can be applied to different types of materials, including different battery cells and conductive sheet materials, which improves applicability and flexibility.

Develop intelligent production: The combination of laser welding technology and intelligent production can realize automatic operation and real-time monitoring, and improve production efficiency and quality control.

6. Conclusion

The application of battery laser welding technology in lithium battery packs has a wide range of advantages, including high-precision welding, small heat-affected zone, high efficiency and automation.

With the continuous development and innovation of technology, the application prospect of battery laser welding in the manufacture of lithium battery energy storage pack is very broad.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website Dual-Station Laser Welding Machine.