ELECTRODE EDGE CLEANING

摘要

The invention is devices and methods for cleaning regions of a coating material from thin coated substrates such as conductive electrode substrates coated with an active material. A rotary blade (24) is held with its tip (44) penetrating the active material (14) to the surface of an electrode substrate (16). As the electrode (12) is drawn past the blade a narrow strip of active material is scraped from the electrode substrate leaving a cleaned region (22). The width of the cleaned region is determined by the blade diameter and angle of the blade with respect to its path over the electrode. Very narrow cleaned regions may be produced with small blade angles. The cleaned region provides a more effective surface for creating an electrical connection in assembly of electrodes into electrochemical cells. A device is provided with one or more pairs of blades that are moved along opposite sides of an electrode, thereby cleaning edges on both sides of an electrode in one step. A moveable carriage is provided to adjust the height and positioning of the two blades simultaneously. Motor driven or free-spinning brushes assist removal of the active material. In various configurations, the rotary blades are biased toward the electrode to accommodate both dimensional variations and wear in the blade edge. The invention includes an improved process for fabricating electrochemical cells incorporating wound electrodes.