Metal foam support, electrode and method of making same
AssigneeStork, N.V.
InventorsMichael F. Cahill, Greg S. Shaw
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A metal foam support, plus an electrode comprising same, as well as methods of making both, are disclosed, in which there is provided for both the support and the electrode a metal foam member with at least one stacked edge. The stacked edge has a plurality of layers to which a metal connection tab member can be secured. Such an electrode can serve as a negative electrode for a secondary battery.
Claims39
A metal foam support member in sheet form having length in the longitudinal direction, width in the transverse direction, thickness in the direction between front and back major faces of said sheet form support member, and first and second long, outer edges in said longitudinal direction positioned at least substantially parallel to one another, which metal foam support member comprises at least substantially one layer of metal foam and has at least one outer edge that is a stacked edge of a plurality of at least two layers of metal foam established by folding, at a long outer edge of said sheet, one layer of metal foam support member over on itself to provide a stacked edge including at least two layers of said metal foam support member, and with at least one layer of said stacked edge that is a layer situated on a support member major face.
An electrode comprising a layer of a metal foam support member in sheet form containing an active filling, said metal foam support member having length in the longitudinal direction, width in the transverse direction, thickness in the direction between front and back major faces of said sheet form support member, and first and second long outer edges in said longitudinal direction positioned at least substantially parallel to one another, which metal foam support member comprises at least substantially one layer of metal foam and has at least one outer edge that is a stacked edge of a plurality of at least two layers of metal foam established by folding, at a long outer edge of said sheet, one layer of metal foam support member over on itself to provide a stacked edge including at least one layer of said metal foam support member, and with at least one layer of said stacked edge that is a layer situated on a support member major face.
A method of producing an electrode comprising a layer of a metal foam support member containing an active filling, said metal foam support member having length in the longitudinal direction, a width in the transverse direction, front and back faces, and first and second long, outer edges in said longitudinal direction positioned at least substantially parallel to one another, with at least one outer edge that is a stacked edge of a plurality of at least two layers of metal foam including at least one layer of said metal foam support member, and with at least one edge layer that is situated on a support member face, which method comprises the steps of:
- (1) providing a metal foam support member in sheet form as a layer of said metal foam;
- (2) establishing at least one of said support member outer edges as a stacked edge established by folding said support member, and comprising at least two metal foam layers, with at least one layer on a major face of said support member;
- (3) compressing said stacked edge;
- (4) introducing active filing material into said sheet form electrode support member;
- and
- (5) cutting said filled support member to provide said electrode as a segment of said filled support member having a compressed stacked edge.
An electrode assembly comprising an electrode having a thin layer of a metal foam support member in sheet form containing an active filling, said metal foam support member having length in the longitudinal direction, width in the transverse direction, thickness in the direction between front and back major faces of said sheet form support member, and first and second long, outer edges in said longitudinal direction positioned at least substantially parallel to one another, which metal foam support member comprises at least substantially one layer of metal foam and has at least one outer edge that is a stacked edge of a plurality of at least two layers of said metal foam established by folding, at a long outer edge of said sheet, one layer of metal foam support member over on itself to provide a stacked edge, with at least one layer of said stacked edge that is a layer situated on a support member major face, and with the electrode of said electrode assembly being spirally wound around a geometric axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.