Beaded electrode cup for a miniature galvanic cell
AssigneeEveready Battery Company, Inc.
InventorManuel Rafols Malay
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Abstract
A miniature galvanic cell employing a cell housing comprising a beaded cup, wherein the bead is disposed at the vicinity of the open end of the cup, and a low profile can and gasket assembly are used so that effectively the majority of the cross-section thickness of the vertical portion of the cell is attributed to only the thickness of the wall of the cup so that maximum internal volume of the cell is reserved for the active components. A process for producing the novel housing is also disclosed.
Claims19
A miniature galvanic cell comprising a first positive electrode a second negative electrode;
- a separator between said first electrode and said second electrode;
- an electrolyte;
- a two-part conductive housing containing said first electrode, said second electrode, said separator and said electrolyte, the first part of said housing being a can electrically connected to said first electrode and having a wall and an edge defining an opening, and the second part of said housing being a cup electrically connected to said second electrode and having an upstanding wall with an outer surface and an edge end defining an opening and having an inward beaded area at the vicinity of the open end of the cup, and an insulating gasket comprising a base member and at least one upstanding wall;
- wherein the edge of the can's wall is disposed against said gasket;
- one upstanding wall of said gasket is disposed between the wall of the can and the wall of the cup;
- the upstanding wall of the cup is radially outward of the upstanding wall of the gasket and the wall of the can;
- and the base member of said gasket is seated on the beaded area of the cup producing a sealed miniature galvanic cell.
A process for assembling the components of a miniature cell into a two-part conductive housing in which one part is a cup and the other part is a can, comprising the steps:
- a) forming a cup having a base member and peripheral wall defining an opening from a conductive sheet of material;
- b) reforming and reversing the base of the cup of step a) to reverse a portion of the peripheral wall at the opening upon itself to produce a two member first segment;
- c) reforming the cup of step b) to reverse a portion of the peripheral wall extending from the first segment upon itself to produce a three member second segment;
- d) forming an internal bead on the wall of the cup comprising two members of the second segment disposed perpendicular to the peripheral wall and the third member of the second segment being the portion of the wall defining the opening and disposed parallel to the peripheral wall;
- e) preparing an electrically insulating gasket;
- f) preparing a conductive can with a peripheral wall having an edge defining an opening for the can;
- g) placing the components of the miniature cell including a positive electrode and a negative electrode within the cup and the can and then placing the can into the cup so that the wall of the can is in parallel alignment with the wall of the cup, the gasket is disposed in physical contact between the wall of the cup and the wall of the can, and the gasket is seated on the internal bead of the wall of the cup, wherein the upstanding wall of the cup is radially outward of the upstanding wall of the gasket and the wall of the can;
- and,
- h) securing the cup, the gasket and the can so as to effectively seal the miniature cell and thereby electrically insulate the can from the cup.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.