Single punch method of making battery plates for lead-acid batteries

A method of making battery plates for lead-acid batteries utilizing a die set having a first and second plurality of corresponding pairs of male and female die components, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a strip of material comprising lead;
• punching material out of said strip to define a first plurality of holes in said strip with said first plurality of corresponding pairs of male and female die components;
• during punching said material each of said first plurality of corresponding pairs of male and female die components also shaping, using said first plurality of corresponding pairs of male and female die components, at least a portion of a periphery of each of said plurality of first holes into a non-rectangular cross-sectional shape, the first female die component having a positive or raised portion to shape the side of the strip of material in a gap defined between the first plurality of corresponding pairs of male and female die components;
• punching material out of said strip to define a second plurality of holes in said strip with said second plurality of corresponding pairs of male and female die components wherein said first and second plurality of holes are alternately spaced from one another;
• and
• during punching said material each of said second plurality of corresponding pairs of male and female die components also shaping, using said second plurality of corresponding pairs of male and female die components, at least a portion of a periphery of each of said plurality of second holes into a non-rectangular cross-sectional shape, the second female die component having a positive or raised portion to shape the side of the strip of material in a gap defined between the second plurality of corresponding pairs of male and female die components;
• and
• wherein said punching defines a plurality of shaped grid wires wherein each said grid wire is defined between adjacent said first and second holes.