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US 5,035,045 AGranted
Method of joining bipolar battery frames
AssigneeGlobe-Union Inc.
InventorsGerald K. Bowen, Michael D. Eskra, David C. Belongia
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AssigneeGlobe-Union Inc.
InventorsGerald K. Bowen, Michael D. Eskra, David C. Belongia
Estimating the term…
A method of joining thermoplastic frames of a bipolar battery to form a leak-free battery stack. The battery includes a stack of generally rectangular thermoplastic frames, including a series of central frames and a pair of end frames. Each central frame has an opening and a bipolar plate, consisting of a positive electrode and a negative electrode, separated by an electrically conductive substrate, is mounted across the opening. The opposed surfaces of the frame project outwardly beyond the bipolar plate. To join the frames together, a pair of frames is mounted in spaced relation and a pair of back-to-back focused infrared heaters are positioned in the space between the frames and the focal point of each heater is directed into registry with the surface of the respective frame to melt or fuse the surface. The heating unit is then withdrawn and the frames are moved into contact with each other to weld the fused surfaces together.
A method of joining thermoplastic bipolar battery frames, comprising the steps of forming a plurality of generally rectangular bipolar battery frames of thermoplastic material and forming a central opening in each frame, mounting a bipolar plate in the opening of each frame with said plate having a lesser thickness than said frame so that opposed surfaces of said frame project outwardly beyond said plate, positioning a pair of frames in spaced relation, moving a pair of back-to-back focused infrared heaters into the space and disposing a focused beam of each heater into registry with the surface of one of the frames to thereby heat and fuse a layer of said opposed surfaces, withdrawing the heaters from said space, and moving the fused opposed surfaces into contacting relation to bond the surfaces together.
A method of joining thermoplastic bipolar battery frames, comprising the steps of forming a plurality of generally rectangular bipolar battery frames of thermoplastic material and forming a central opening in each frame, mounting a bipolar plate in each opening, said plate having a lesser thickness than the corresponding frame so that opposed surfaces of said frame project outwardly beyond said plate, position a pair of frames in spaced relation, positioning an infrared lamp in facing relation with respect to a surface of each frame, and focusing a light beam from each lamp at an elongated focal point, disposing the focal point of each lamp into registry with a surface of one of said frames to thereby heat and fuse said surface, and thereafter moving the fused surfaces into contacting relation to weld the frames together and form a partial stack.
A method of joining thermoplastic bipolar battery frames, comprising the steps of forming a pair of impervious end frames of thermoplastic material, forming a plurality of central frames of thermoplastic material and forming a central opening in each frame, mounting a bipolar plate in the opening of each central frame, said bipolar plate having a lesser thickness than the central frame so that opposed surfaces of said central frame project outwardly beyond said plate, positioning an end frame and a central frame in spaced relation, moving a pair of back-to-back focused infrared heaters into said space and disposing an elongated focused beam of each heater into registry with a surface of on of the frames to thereby heat and fuse the surface, withdrawing said heating unit from said space, and moving the fused surfaces into contacting relation to weld said end frame to said central frame and provide a partial stack.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.