Multiple position and work station for battery fabrication

An apparatus for depositing preselected aliquot amounts of fluid into each of a plurality of cells within a multicelled storage battery comprising:

• a fixed structural frame;
• a work station assembly, said work station being vertically movable on said frame so that it can be positioned above said battery while it is being filled and further comprising a plurality of horizontally movable work staton blocks, each of which being slideably mounted within said work station and adapted to be positioned over a fill hole within said battery and further containing a nozzle adapted to conduct a mixture of sulfuric acid and water into said fill hole, said nozzle having a reduced outer end so that a turbulent free flow of air out of said cells may be achieved as they are being filled;
• a supply tank to contain said acid mixture;
• ladling means mounted for periodic reciprocal movements between a lower position within said supply tank and an upper position above said battery, said ladling means being adapted to be immersed in said tank to collect said precollected amount of said mixture from said tank in said lower position and being raised from said tank into said upper position wherein said acid mixture drains from said ladling means into said battery;
• means disposed within said ladling means for dividing said fluid from said tank into a plurality of said preselected aliquot portions, one for each cell in said battery, upon movement of said ladling means from said lower position to said upper position;
• fluid transfer means periodically emptying said ladling means and for allowing the independent gravitationally induced transfer of said preselected aliquot portions of fluid into each of said plurality of cells as said lading means moves into said upper position;
• means for tilting said lading means to any of a variety of predetermined angles whereby overflow from said ladling means caused by said tilting correspondingly varies the fluid content of said lading means and consequently, the amount of fluid deposited in said battery, said tilting means further comprising a fixed scale template and pointer means connected to said ladling means said pointer means adapted to pivot with said tilting means and to overlay said template thereby indicating the degree of said ladling means and the quantity of fluid therein;
• transport means adapted to carry said battery into said apparatus for acid filling and after said filling is completed, being adapted to further transport the said batteries out of said apparatus for further processing, said apparatus further comprising a plurality of sensing devices and control means adapted to determine that the requisite number of batteries being filled has been transported into said apparatus and is properly located in said apparatus for further processing, said position being controlled by the location of the stop which acts to prevent the batteries entering the station from leaving until said filling operation is complete, second sensing means adapted to detect the exit of said filled batteries after a filling cycle is complete, said sensing means cooperating with a third sensing means adapted to determine that a sufficient number of batteries for the next filling cycle is available and to control an entry gate which acts to prevent more than the requisite number of batteries from entering the apparatus prior to the start of a filling action.