System and method for manufacturing a thermal battery
AssigneeEaglepicher Technologies, LLC
InventorsGraham Dixon, Mark Hart, Ola Pettersson, Chad Sneath
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of manufacturing thermal batteries is disclosed. In the method according to the present invention, pellets used in the manufacture of thermal batteries are grouped together based on certain material characteristics such as weight, thickness, and density. Pellets with different material characteristics can be grouped together in a single thermal battery to produce a thermal battery with characteristics that are the average of the characteristics of the pellets used to manufacture the thermal battery.
Claims25
A method of manufacturing thermal batteries comprising the steps of:
- pressing a plurality of pellets and performing quality checking on the plurality of pellets;
- recording in a database, automatically, information associated with the quality checking;
- storing at least one of the plurality of pellets in a container that is associated with a unique identifier;
- associating in the database the unique identifier, the container, and the information;
- delivering the container to a stacker device;
- and
- selecting a pellet from among more than one container of pellets and moving the selected pellet to a stacking fixture, wherein the pellet is selected based on at least one of a material type, a pellet weight, a pellet density, and a pellet thickness.
A method of manufacturing thermal batteries comprising the steps of:
- providing a first group of pellets with certain material characteristics;
- providing a second group of pellets with certain material characteristics wherein the material characteristics of the second group of pellets are different from the material characteristics of the first group of pellets;
- pairing pellets from the first group of pellets with pellets from the second group of pellets to create a third group of pellets;
- and
- assembling a thermal battery with the paired pellets from the third group of pellets.
A method of pairing pellets for use in manufacturing a thermal battery comprising:
- determining a material characteristic of a first pellet;
- determining a material characteristic of a second pellet;
- comparing the determined material characteristics of the first and second pellets to certain standards;
- categorizing the first and second pellets into categories based on the comparison of the determined characteristics with the certain standards;
- and
- pairing the first pellet with other pellets with a similar material characteristic of the first pellet and pairing the second pellet with other pellets with a similar material characteristic of the second pellet.
A method of selecting pellets used in thermal battery manufacturing comprising:
- providing a first group of pellets with a first material characteristic;
- providing a second group of pellets with a second material characteristic;
- providing a positive pressure pellet carrier device capable of emitting air at least two different air flow rates;
- emitting air from the positive pressure pellet carrier at a first flow rate to directly contact the first group of pellets at a velocity to cause pellets within the first group to be lifted and moved;
- and
- emitting air from the positive pressure pellet carrier device at a second flow rate to directly contact the second group of pellets at a velocity to cause pellets within the second group to be lifted and moved.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.