Electrolyte starved metal-air battery
AssigneeDreisbach Electromotive, Inc.
InventorMichael C. Cheiky
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A rechargeable electric battery includes a number of metal-air cells, each including a metal anode, an air cathode, an anode electrolyte absorber adjacent the anode, a cathode electrolyte absorber adjacent the cathode, a separator separating the electrolyte absorbers, an input for supplying electrolyte to the absorbers at a supply side of the cell and a drain for draining excess electrolyte from the electrolyte absorbers at a drain side of the cells, each of the metal-air cells being inclined so that the drain side is lower than the supply side.
Claims27
A rechargeable electric battery, comprising:
- a plurality of metal-air cells, each including a metal anode, an air cathode, an anode electrolyte absorber adjacent said anode, a cathode electrolyte absorber adjacent said cathode, a separator separating said electrolyte absorbers, an input for supplying electrolyte to said absorbers at a supply side of said cell, an electrolyte reservoir positioned between said input and said cathode electrolyte absorber, and a drain for draining excess electrolyte from said electrolyte absorbers at a drain side of said cells;
- each of said metal-air cells being inclined so that said drain side is lower than said supply side.
A rechargeable electrolyte starved zinc-air cell, comprising a zinc anode, an air cathode, an anode electrolyte absorber adjacent said anode, a cathode electrolyte absorber adjacent said cathode, a separator separating said electrolyte absorbers, an input for supplying electrolyte to said absorbers at a supply side of said cell, an electrolyte reservoir positioned between said input and said cathode electrolyte absorber, and a drain for draining excess electrolyte from said electrolyte absorbers at a drain side of said cell, said supply side of said cell being elevated relative to said drain side.
A rechargeable zinc-air electric traction battery for a vehicle, comprising:
- a plurality of electrolyte starved zinc-air cells, each including a zinc anode, an air cathode, an anode electrolyte absorber adjacent said anode, a cathode electrolyte absorber adjacent said cathode, a separator separating said electrolyte absorbers, an input for supplying electrolyte to said absorbers at a supply side of said cell, and a drain for draining excess electrolyte from said electrolyte absorbers at a drain side of said cells;
- each of said zinc-air cells being inclined so that said drain side is lower than said supply side;
- an electrolyte pump which pumps electrolyte from said drain side of said cells to be supplied to the supply side of said cells;
- a dispenser which dispenses said excess electrolyte supplied by said pump to said zinc-air cells through said input of each of said zinc-air cells;
- and a pressure controller for maintaining a constant pressure under which electrolyte is pumped.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.