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US 2004/0002006 A1Published application
Battery including carbon foam current collectors
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorsKurtis Chad Kelley, John J. Votoupal
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A battery having a current collector constructed of carbon foam. The carbon foam includes a network of pores into which a chemically active paste is disposed to create either a positive or negative plate for the battery. The carbon foam resists corrosion and exhibits a large amount of surface area. The invention includes a method for making the disclosed carbon foam current collector used in the battery.
Claims24
An electrode plate for a battery, comprising:
- a carbon foam current collector including a network of pores, and
- a chemically active paste disposed on the carbon foam current collector such that the chemically active paste penetrates into the network of pores.
A method of making an electrode plate for a battery comprising:
- forming a current collector from carbon foam, wherein the current collector includes a tab, and the carbon foam includes a network of pores;
- forming an electrical connection at the tab of the current collector;
- applying a chemically active paste to the current collector such that the chemically active paste penetrates the network of pores in the carbon foam.
A lead-acid battery comprising:
- a housing;
- a positive terminal and a negative terminal external to the housing;
- at least one cell disposed within the housing and including at least one positive plate and at least one negative plate connected to the positive terminal and negative terminal, respectively;
- and
- an electrolytic solution filling a volume between the positive and negative plates;
- wherein the at least one positive plate further includes
- a carbon foam current collector including a network of pores, and
- a chemically active paste disposed on the carbon foam current collector such that the chemically active paste penetrates the network of pores.
5 more elements
A lead-acid battery comprising:
- a housing;
- a positive terminal and a negative terminal external to the housing;
- a plurality of cells connected in series between the positive terminal and the negative terminal;
- a plurality of positive plates disposed in alternating series with a plurality of negative plates within each of the plurality of cells;
- and
- an electrolytic solution disposed within the housing and filling a volume between adjacent pairs of positive and negative plates;
- wherein both the plurality of positive plates and the plurality of negative plates further include carbon foam current collectors each including a network of pores, and chemically active paste disposed on the carbon foam current collectors such that the chemically active paste penetrates the network of pores, and
- wherein the carbon foam current collectors of both the positive and negative plates each include a tab of carbon foam coated with a conductive metal material configured to make electrical connections to the current collectors of both the positive and negative plates.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.