Method for producing electrode sheet with tab and apparatus therefor

An electrode sheet producing apparatus for cutting out an electrode sheet with a laser beam from an original sheet including an electrode portion obtained by applying an active material layer to at least one surface of a long metal foil and left and right ear portions provided at both side portions of the metal foil on which the active material layer is not applied, the electrode sheet producing apparatus comprising:

• an original sheet supply portion configured to continuously feed the original sheet;
• left and right first laser emission devices disposed above the fed original sheet and configured to apply left and right first laser beams to the left and right ear portions to separate the ear portions from the electrode portion, and move the left and right first laser beams to cut out tabs connected to the electrode portion, from the left and right ear portions in the ear portion separating step;
• a third laser emission device provided between the left and right first laser emission devices and configured to emit a third laser beam for laterally dividing the original sheet into two sections;
• and
• a separating portion provided at a downstream side of an irradiation point of the third laser beam to the electrode portion and configured to press down one of cut half-wide electrode portions and raise the other half-wide electrode portion to vertically separate the half-wide electrode portions from each other at the irradiation point;
• a take-up portion installed at a downstream side of the separating step and configured to take up the half-wide electrode portions from which the ear portions have been separated, the take-up portion including a pair of upper and lower take-up rollers, a take-up servomotor, and a torque limiter, one of the take-up rollers being connected, via the torque limiter, to the take-up servomotor that is running faster than a feed speed of the half-wide electrode portions and being rotating at a speed equal to the feed speed of the half-wide electrode portions while applying tension to the half-wide electrode portions;
• rollers provided at a downstream side of the separating portion and configured to nip, from above and below, the half-wide electrode portions sent side by side to the take-up portion;
• a second laser emission device configured to move a second laser beam between a left edge of the left half-wide electrode portion and a right edge of the right half-wide electrode portion in synchronization with the feed speed of the half-wide electrode portions, immediately in front of the take-up portion, to cut the half-wide electrode portions into a predetermined dimension to form electrode sheets with the tabs;
• ear portion separating portions each provided downstream of the separating step and at a position away from and above or below a path through which the half-wide electrode portion is sent to the take-up portion, the ear portion separating portions each serving as a take-up path for the ear portion separated from the half-wide electrode portion, and thereby forming a non-zero take-up angle at the irradiation point of the first laser beam between the path through which the half-wide electrode portion is sent and the take-up path for the ear portion separated from the half-wide electrode portion;
• ear portion collection portions each installed downstream of the ear portion separating portion and configured to collect the ear portion having passed through the ear portion separating portion;
• and
• electrode sheet collection portions each installed at a downstream side of the take-up portion and configured to collect the cut electrode sheets with the tabs.