Schuler receives order for battery cell housing production line

Photo: Schuler

South Korean manufacturer LT Precision has ordered a turnkey production line for the manufacture of battery cell housings from Germany-based Schuler Group. The output rate of the production line will be 2,000 housings per min — the quantity corresponds to about half the battery cells installed in an average electric car.

The scope of supply includes a cupping system and a total of seven post-processing presses including the corresponding dies, which are built by the company’s subsidiary Aweba.

On the production line, cylindrical battery cell housings with a diameter of 21mm and a length of 70mm will be made The first press initially cuts round blanks from nickel-plated sheet steel and forms them into cups during the same process step — in this way, a material usage rate of 90% or more can be achieved.

The cups are then deep-drawn, ironed and trimmed in the automatic stamping presses. Six parts per machine fall onto the outfeed conveyor at any one time. The final operation is washing of the cell casings.

The battery cell housings will be used in the electric cars of various manufacturers and the production line is due to begin operating in 2024.