Lead-acid rechargeable storage battery
AssigneeElectrosource, Inc.
InventorChris Morris
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An improvement in lead-acid batteries is disclosed. The improvement is directed toward construction of a lead-acid rechargeable battery in which bipolar positive and negatives plates (biplates) share the same grid or substrate. According to the present invention, such biplates are stacked upon each other, separated by interleaved, highly porous glass mat separators. These substratea positioned between the positive and negative plate areas act as electrical connections attaching the plates to terminals of the battery. The battery case cover is used to provide compressive force on the biplates and separators.
Claims24
A method for producing a gas recombining lead-acid electrochemical battery comprising:
- assembling stacks of electrochemically unformed lead containing plates in such a manner that a positive plate in a particular position in one stack is connected to a negative plate in the same relative position in an adjacent stack by a common substrate of the said positive and negative plates;
- positioning dry, highly porous, microfine glass fiber separators between said positive and negative plates;
- applying compressive force on the stacks of plates, said compressive force being provided by fixing a battery cover on a battery container containing said stacks in order to exert controlled pressure on the stacks of plates and separators;
- electrically connecting said negative plates and separately connecting all said positive plates in the terminal stacks to each other and to an external negative and an external positive terminal of the battery respectively;
- flooding the unformed battery case with acid electrolyte so that the acid electrolyte is fully absorbed into the pores of the plates and separators;
- draining excess acid electrolyte from the battery case after a predetermined soaking period has expired;
- electrochemically forming the plates in place within the battery case in such a manner that pores in the plates and separators are less than fully filled;
- and
- sealing the battery.
A method for producing a gas recombining lead-acid electrochemical battery, comprising:
- forming electrochemically unformed, lead containing positive and negative plates which share a common substrate;
- thereafter, electrochemically forming said positive and negative plates by the tank formation method;
- assembling stacks of the electrochemically formed plates in such a manner that each positive plate in a particular position a first stack is connected to a corresponding negative plate in an adjacent stack, said corresponding plate being positioned in the same relative position within said adjacent stack, when compared to said first stack, said corresponding plate being positioned in said adjacent stack by the same substrate of the said positive and negative plates;
- positioning highly porous, microfine, glass fiber separators between said positive and negative plates;
- applying compressive force on the stacks of plates, said compressive force being provided by fixing a battery cover on a battery container containing said stacks in order to exert controlled pressure on the stacks of plates and separators.
- electrically connecting the negative plates and separately the positive plates in the terminal stacks to each other and to the external negative and positive terminals of the battery respectively;
- adding a controlled amount of acid electrolyte to each stack so that the electrolyte is substantially fully absorbed into the pores of the plates and separators;
- and
- sealing the battery.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.